English

Noun

lout ‎(plural louts)

1. A troublemaker, often violent; a rude violent person; a yob.
   • 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., OCLC 580270828:

     But the lout looked only to his market, and was not easily repulsed. ¶ "He's there, I tell you," he persisted. "And for threepence I'll get you to see him. Come on, your honour! It's many a Westminster election I've seen, and beer running, from Mr. Fox, […] when maybe it's your honour's going to stand! Anyway, it's, Down with the mongers!"

2. A clownish, awkward fellow; a bumpkin.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Philip Sidney to this entry?)

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:troublemaker
• yob

Related terms

• lager lout

Translations

See also

• hooligan
• thug
• yob, yobbo

Verb

lout ‎(third-person singular simple present louts, present participle louting, simple past and past participle louted)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To treat as a lout or fool; to neglect; to disappoint.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

Etymology 2

Old English lūtan, from Germanic. Cognate with Old Norse lúta, Danish lude ‎(“to bend”), Norwegian lute ‎(“stoop”), Swedish luta.

Verb

lout ‎(third-person singular simple present louts, present participle louting, simple past and past participle louted)

1. (intransitive, archaic) To bend, bow, stoop.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.i:

     He faire the knight saluted, louting low, / Who faire him quited, as that courteous was [...].

   • 1885, Sir Richard Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, vol. 1:

     He took the cup in his hand and, louting low, returned his best thanks [...].

References

1. ↑ “lout” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).