glutton

English

Etymology

From Middle English glotoun, from Old French gloton, gluton, from Latin gluttō, gluttōnis (“glutton”).

The use for the wolverine is a semantic loan from German Vielfraß, itself a folk etymology for Old Norse *fjallfress (literally “mountain cat”). The popular belief that the wolverine is particularly voracious only developed because of this name. See the German for more.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlʌt(ə)n/

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• Hyphenation: glut‧ton
• Rhymes: -ʌtən

Adjective

glutton (comparative more glutton, superlative most glutton)

1. Gluttonous; greedy; gormandizing.
   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC:

     A glutton monastery in former ages makes a hungry ministry in our days.

   • 1597, William Shakespeare, 2 Henry IV i 3:

     So, so, thou common dog, didst thou disgorge
     Thy glutton bosom of the royal Richard?

Noun

glutton (plural gluttons)

1. One who eats voraciously, obsessively, or to excess; a gormandizer.

   Such a glutton would eat until his belly hurts.

2. (by extension) One who consumes anything voraciously, obsessively, or to excess.
   • 1705, George Granville, The British Enchanters:

     "Gluttons in murder, wanton to destroy."

   • 1878, Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native:

     "A good few indeed, my man," replied the captain. "Yes, you may make away with a deal of money and be neither drunkard nor glutton."

   • a. 1887 (date written), Emily Dickinson, “Hope is a subtle glutton”, in M[abel] L[oomis] Todd, editors, Poems, Third Series, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1896, page 15:

     Hope is a subtle glutton; / He feeds upon the fair;

3. (now rare) The wolverine, Gulo gulo.
   • 1791, Joseph Priestley, Letters to Burke, section VII:

     [A] civil establishment […] is the animal called a glutton, which falling from a tree (in which it generally conceals itself) upon some noble animal, immediately begins to tear it, and suck its blood […] .

4. (colloquial) A giant petrel.

Synonyms

• (voracious eater): see Thesaurus:glutton

Translations

one who eats voraciously

• Arabic: أَكَّال m (ʔakkāl), شَرَه m (šarah), نَهِم m (nahim)

  Hijazi Arabic: طفس m (ṭifis)

• Armenian: որկրամոլ (hy) (orkramol)
• Bulgarian: лакомник m (lakomnik), чревоугодник (bg) m (črevougodnik)
• Catalan: fartaner (ca) m, fartanera (ca) f
• Cebuano: hakog
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 為食鬼／为食鬼 (yue) (wai⁶ sik⁶ gwai²)

  Mandarin: 暴食者 (bàoshízhě), 饞嘴／馋嘴 (zh) (chánzuǐ), 饕餮 (zh) (tāotiè)

• Czech: žrout (cs) m, nenasyta m or f, obžera m
• Danish: fråser c, frådser c
• Finnish: ahmatti (fi)
• French: glouton (fr) m, gourmand (fr) m, gargantua (fr) m, goinfre (fr) m
• Galician: moulán m, larpán (gl) m, larfón (gl) m, gulitrón m, larpeiro (gl) m, alarbio m, aldragón m, broeiro m, famoeiro m, froia m, garganteiro m, almudre m, papón (gl) m, lambuzas m, lapón (gl) m, comellón (gl) m, enchedoiro m, gulipón m
• German: Vielfraß (de) m, Nimmersatt (de) m, Völler m
• Gothic: 𐌰𐍆𐌴𐍄𐌾𐌰 m (afētja)
• Greek: λαίμαργος (el) m (laímargos), αδηφάγος (el) m (adifágos)

  Ancient: φάγος m (phágos), γαστρίμαργος m (gastrímargos), τένθης m (ténthēs), κάβαισος m (kábaisos)

• Hebrew: גַּרְגְּרָן (he) m (garg'rán)
• Hungarian: haspók (hu), hasimádó (hu)
• Icelandic: átvagl (is) n, mathákur (is) m, svelgur m
• Ingrian: rapamako
• Irish: amplóir m, craosaire m, sutha m
• Italian: ghiottone (it), ingordo (it), divoratore (it), mangione m
• Japanese: 食いしん坊 (ja) (くいしんぼう, kuishinbō), 健啖家 (けんたんか, kentanka)
• Latin: helluō m, lurcō m, gluttō m, mandūcō m
• Maori: houmea, kaihorohoro, kaihoro
• Meru: kiragua
• Norman: bouffeux m (Jersey), gouailleux m (Jersey), goumitre m (Jersey), mâfreux m (Jersey)
• Norn: glupni m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fråsser m, fråtser m, storspiser (no) m, storeter m

  Nynorsk: fråtsar m

• Ottoman Turkish: اوبور (obur), قاشیقجی (kaşıkcı)
• Plautdietsch: Välfros m
• Polish: żarłok (pl) m, łakomczuch (pl) m
• Portuguese: glutão (pt) m, guloso (pt)
• Russian: чревоуго́дник (ru) m (črevougódnik), обжо́ра (ru) m or f (obžóra)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ждера f

  Roman: ždera (sh) f

• Spanish: glotón (es) m, hambrón m, comilón (es) m, tragón (es) m, piraña (es) (Spain, colloquial)
• Swahili: mlafi (sw)
• Swedish: frossare (sv) c
• Telugu: తిండిపోతు (te) (tiṇḍipōtu)
• Turkish: obur (tr)
• Yoruba: abólóúnjẹkú, wọ̀bìà

one who gluts himself

• Finnish: mässäilijä (fi)
• German: Unersättlicher m, Unersättliche f
• Greek: αχόρταγος (el) m (achórtagos)
• Irish: amplóir m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fråtser m

• Swahili: walafi (sw)
• Swedish: matvrak (sv) n

wolverine — see wolverine

See also

• glutton for punishment

Verb

glutton (third-person singular simple present gluttons, present participle gluttoning, simple past and past participle gluttoned)

1. (archaic) To glut; to satisfy (especially an appetite) by filling to capacity.
   • a. 1657, Richard Lovelace, On Sanazar's Hundred Duckets by hte Clarissimi of Venice:

     Glutton'd at last, return at home to pine.

   • 1915, Journeyman Barber, Hairdresser, Cosmetologist and Proprietor:

     In some cities their [local branches] have become gluttoned with success, and in their misguided overzealous ambition they are 'killing the goose that lays the golden egg.'

2. (obsolete) To glut; to eat voraciously.
   • 1604, Michael Drayton, Moses in a Map of his Miracles:

     Whereon in Egypt gluttoning they fed.

   • 1598, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 75:

     Thus do I pine and surfeit day by day, / Or gluttoning on all, or all away.

Related terms

• gluttonous
• gluttonously
• gluttony