legger

legger

English

Etymology

    From leg + -er.

    Noun

    legger (plural leggers)

    1. (informal) A bootlegger.
    2. (UK, obsolete) A man employed by the owners of a canal to push boats through narrow canal tunnels. The legger would lie on his back on a piece of wood on the boat with his feet reaching to the tunnel wall, and walk it along. This could be done by the boat's crew, but the canals employed men specifically for the task because they could do it faster and prevent a tunnel becoming a bottleneck for traffic.
    3. (in combination) Something having the specified number of legs.
      • 1842, James Bruton, Bathing: a farce, in one act, page 6:
        Won't your ladyship condescend to use a three legger. (offers a stool)

    See also

    Anagrams

    Dutch

    Etymology

    From Middle Dutch legger. Equivalent to leggen +‎ -er. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term. Some of the senses actually arise from liggen, per Etymologiebank

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈlɛ.ɣər/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Hyphenation: leg‧ger
    • Rhymes: -ɛɣər

    Noun

    legger m (plural leggers, diminutive leggertje n)

    1. an animal that lays eggs, especially an egg-producing bird
    2. a ledger, register (book for keeping records and/or notes)
    3. (textual criticism) a vorlage (edition of a text that is the immediate predecessor or one of the immediate predecessors of another edition)

    Descendants

    • Indonesian: leger

    Italian

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈlɛd.d͡ʒer/[1]
    • Rhymes: -ɛddʒer
    • Hyphenation: lèg‧ger

    Verb

    legger (apocopated)

    1. apocopic form of leggere

    References

    Lombard

    Etymology

    Akin to Italian leggero, from Latin levis. Compare also French léger.

    Adjective

    legger

    1. light (of weight)

    Norwegian Bokmål

    Noun

    legger m (definite singular leggeren, indefinite plural leggerer, definite plural leggerene)

    1. person, machine or similar that places something
    2. layman

    Derived terms

    Noun

    legger m

    1. indefinite plural of legg

    Verb

    legger

    1. present active of legge

    References

    Norwegian Nynorsk

    Etymology 1

    See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

    Alternative forms

    Noun

    legger m

    1. indefinite plural of legg

    Etymology 2

    See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

    Alternative forms

    Verb

    legger

    1. (nonstandard) present of leggja