groundling

groundling
/grownd"ling/, n.
1. a plant or animal that lives on or close to the ground.
2. any of various fishes that live at the bottom of the water.
3. a spectator, reader, or other person of unsophisticated or uncultivated tastes; an uncritical or uncultured person.
4. a member of a theater audience who sits in one of the cheaper seats.
[1595-1605; GROUND1 + -LING1]

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Groundling — Ground ling, n. [Ground + ling.] 1. (Zo[ o]l.) A fish that keeps at the bottom of the water, as the loach. [1913 Webster] 2. A spectator in the pit of a theater, which formerly was on the ground, and without floor or benches. [1913 Webster] No… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • groundling — theater patron in the pit, c.1600, from GROUND (Cf. ground) (n.) in an Elizabethan sense of pit of a theater + LING (Cf. ling). From the beginning emblematic of bad or unsophisticated taste. O.E. grundling was a type of fish …   Etymology dictionary

  • groundling — ► NOUN ▪ a spectator or reader of inferior taste. ORIGIN originally a member of the part of a theatre audience that stood in the pit beneath the stage: with reference to Shakespeare s Hamlet III. ii. 11 …   English terms dictionary

  • groundling — [ground′liŋ] n. 1. a) a fish that lives close to the bottom of the water b) an animal that lives on or in the ground c) a plant that grows close to the ground 2. a) in an Elizabethan theater, a person who watched the performance from cheap… …   English World dictionary

  • Groundling — A groundling was a person that frequented the Globe Theater in the early 1600 s who was too poor to pay to be able to sit on one of the three levels of the theater. By paying one penny, they could stand in The Pit , also called The Yard , just… …   Wikipedia

  • groundling — paprastasis šlyžys statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. Noemacheilus barbatulus angl. bearded stone loach; groundling rus. обыкновенный голец; сибирский голец; усатый голец ryšiai: platesnis terminas –… …   Žuvų pavadinimų žodynas

  • Groundling Marsh — was a Canadian children s television series featuring puppets. The only merchandise produced for the show were videos and they are now exceptionally rare and no longer produced. In the United States, it aired on PBS and the Disney Channel. This… …   Wikipedia

  • groundling — noun Date: 1602 1. a. a spectator who stood in the pit of an Elizabethan theater b. a person of unsophisticated taste 2. one that lives or works on or near the ground …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • groundling — small fishes that keep at the bottom …   Dictionary of ichthyology

  • groundling — noun a) any of various plants or animals living on or near the ground, as a benthic fish or bottom feeder b) by association, an individual of uncultivated or uncultured taste …   Wiktionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”