▪ I. † ˈargot1 Obs.
Also argo.
[a. F. argot ‘the Spurre of a Cocke..the heele or talon of a hog’ (Cotgr.), mod. ergot; origin unknown. Cf. ergot.]
a. The spur of a cock; the similarly-situated excrescence on the feet of other animals. b. A spur left in pruning a tree.
| c 1400 MS. Maystre of Game (Halliw.) More gret argos then hath an hynde. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. II. 38 Argot..the Old Extremity of a Branch which has been formerly shorten'd at some distance from the Eye. 1708 Phil. Trans. XXVI. 79 Plectronites, the Argot, or Cockspur Ichthyodont. |
▪ II. ‖ argot2
(argo)
[Fr. Of unknown origin.]
The jargon, slang, or peculiar phraseology of a class, orig. that of thieves and rogues.
| 1860 Farrar Orig. Lang. vi. 134 Leaves an uninviting argot in the place of warm and glowing speech. 1869 ― Fam. Speech ii. (1873) 78 The argots of nearly every nation. |