▪ I. lecher, n.1 arch.
(ˈlɛtʃə(r))
Forms: 2–5 lechur, 3 -or, 3–6 -our, 4 lichur, -o(u)re, licchour, lec(c)houre, lech-, lychure, 4–5 lichour, lecchour, 5 lecheour(e, lechowr(e, -ir, -urre, lichir, -or, lycher, lehchour, 5–6 lychour, (6 leachour, lecherd, 7 lechard), 6–8 leacher, letcher, 5– lecher.
[a. OF. lecheor, -eur, -ur, liceour, lichieor, also lichard, agent-n. f. lechier to live in debauchery or gluttony, mod.F. lêcher to lick = Pr. lecar, lechar, It. leccare, ad. OHG. leccôn (G. lecken):—OTeut. *likkôjan to lick.]
A man immoderately given to sexual indulgence; a lewd or grossly unchaste man, a debauchee.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 53 Þus heo doð for to feiren heom seoluen and to draȝe lechurs to ham. a 1225 Ancr. R. 216 Þe lechur iðe deofles kurt bifuleð himsulf fulliche, & alle his feolawes. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7208 Prustes, mid vnclene honden & mid lechors mod Al isoyled. 13.. K. Alis. 3916 Fy, he saide, apon the lechour: Thou schalt dye as a traytour! c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. (1866) 11 The sexte commandement es ‘Thou sall be na lichoure’. c 1375 Cursor M. 31 (Laud) Of chastyte the lechour [Bedford MS. þe lichore] hath lyte. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 242 Sir olde lecchour, lat thy Iapes be. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xviii. 103 Summe ben founde..to be greet lecchouris, Summe to be avoutreris. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xviii. ii, Launcelot now I wel vnderstande that thou arte a fals recreaunt knyghte and a comyn lecheoure, and louest and holdest other ladyes. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 174 He has bene lychour so lang quhill lost is his natur. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. v. 147, I will now take the Leacher: hee is at my house. 1603 Florio Montaigne (1634) 477 Of Concubines they [men] may have as many as they list, and women as many lechards. 1621 Quarles Esther vi, The time is come, faire Ester must Expose her beauty to the Lecher's lust. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 148 Half-surpriz'd, and fearing to be seen, The Leacher gallop'd from his jealous Queen. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 502 ¶4 You see..old letchers, with mouths open, stare at the loose gesticulations on the stage with shameful earnestness. 1728 Ramsay Monk & Miller's Wife 105 The haly letcher fled, And darn'd himsell behind a bed. 1763 Churchill Gotham iii. (1764) 23 Like a Virgin to some letcher sold. 1831 E. J. Trelawny Adv. Younger Son II. 193 If she is poor, some old lechers, their dormant passions rekindled, beset her. |
▪ II. † ˈlecher, a. Obs.
[attrib. use of lecher n.1]
Lecherous; also in wider sense, base, vile.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 776 God sente on him sekenesse & care, And lettede al his lecher-fare. Ibid. 1064 Al ðat burȝt folc ðat helde was on, Ðe miȝte lecher crafte don. a 1300 Cursor M. 28528 Lechur sanges haf i wroght. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13037 Thus the lady was lost for hir lechir dedis. 1603 Florio Montaigne 511 Some..disgrace alight on his lawfull wife or on his lechard mistris. |
Hence † ˈlecherhed [see -head], lechery; † ˈlecherlike, † ˈlecherly advs., lecherously; † ˈlecherness, lechery.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 770 Ðat folc luuede lecherlike. Ibid. 1997 He wulde don is lechur-hed wið ioseph, for hise faire⁓hed. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8059 The tothur lurkes in lychernes, & laghes ouerthwert. Ibid. 12604 Þan Vlixes the lord, licherly þai saide, Preset [etc.]. c 1511 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 27 The wymen be very hoote & dyposed to lecherdnes. |
▪ III. † ˈlecher, v. Obs.
[f. lecher n.1]
intr. To play the lecher. Hence † ˈlechering ppl. a.
| 1382 Wyclif Num. xv. 39 Thei folowen not her owne thouȝtis and eyen, by dyuerse thingis lecherynge. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. 11 How he must..drinke carouse, and lecher with him out of whom he hopes to wring anie matter. 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. vi. 114 The small gilded Fly Do's letcher in my sight. 1611 Cotgr., Foutre, to leacher. 1631 Donne Polydoron 130 To letcher is like the spider that spinns a webb out of his owne bowells; to swill and drinke in excesse, is to turne trype-wife and wash gutts. a 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais iii. xlviii. 392 A Lechering Rogue. 1756 Demi-Rep 31 If vanity or dress allure her mind To forfeit fame and letcher with Mankind. |