urchin
[ ur-chin ]
/ ˈɜr tʃɪn /
noun
a mischievous boy.
any small boy or youngster.
either of two small rollers covered with card clothing used in conjunction with the cylinder in carding.
Chiefly British Dialect.
a hedgehog.
Obsolete.
an elf or mischievous sprite.
Origin of urchin
1300–50; Middle English
urchun, urchon hedgehog < Old North French (
h)erichon, Old French
heriçun < Vulgar Latin
*hēriciōn- (stem of
*hēriciō), equivalent to Latin
ēric(ius) hedgehog +
-iōn-
-ion
Words nearby urchin
Example sentences from the Web for urchin
British Dictionary definitions for urchin
urchin
/ (ˈɜːtʃɪn) /
noun
a mischievous roguish child, esp one who is young, small, or raggedly dressed
See sea urchin, heart urchin
an archaic or dialect name for a hedgehog
either of the two cylinders in a carding machine that are covered with carding cloth
obsolete
an elf or sprite
Word Origin for urchin
C13:
urchon, from Old French
heriçon, from Latin
ēricius hedgehog, from
ēr, related to Greek
khēr hedgehog