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  1. mammothrept love

Definitions

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A child brought up by its grandmother; hence, a spoiled child; a delicate nursling.

Wiktionary

  1. n. archaic A spoilt child.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. rare A child brought up by its grandmother; a spoiled child.

Etymologies

  1. From Late Latin mammothreptus, from Hellenistic Ancient Greek μαμμόθρεπτος ("brought up by one’s grandmother"), from μάμμη ("grandmother") + θρεπτός verbal adjective from τρέφειν ("to bring up"). (Wiktionary)

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  • jmjarmstrong JM gives the Granny to all mammothrepts. Nov 22, 2009

  • bilby Wasn't Ben Jonson an Olympic sprinter? Maybe that's how he escaped the beasties. Immaturely of course, but if it works, hey ... Mar 6, 2009

  • chained_bear Are they a candidate for this list, mayhap? Mar 6, 2009

  • qroqqa Worse are mammothraptors: hairy, tusked, hungry, and fleet on two feet. Mar 6, 2009

  • bilby Mammoths are scary so I'm leaving this page. Mar 6, 2009

  • qroqqa A rare word in Greek, Latin, and English, with an interesting succession of senses, largely gained by misapprehension. The Greek meaning comes from mamm- "grandmother" and thrept- "reared, fed", past participle of treph- "rear, produce, maintain, feed, suckle, etc.". (The change of aspiration is the effect of Grassmann's Law, and the reason I looked this up: I didn't recognize threp-.)

    This obscure Greek word somehow came to the attention of St Augustine of Hippo, which is 'surprising', says the OED, because he didn't know Greek. In any case, the mamma word means "breast" in Latin, rather than "grandmother", so he used it to mean "reared (sc. too long) at the breast".

    Ben Jonson used it in English as "immature person", i.e. a spoilt child, in a figurative sense. 'But very well? O you are a meere Mammothrept in iudgement.'

    Another author, Braithwait, used it shortly after this in the expressions 'strict Mamothrept' and 'severe mammothrepts', as if misunderstanding Jonson and taking it as "critic". Mar 6, 2009

  • reesetee A child brought up by its grandmother; also, a spoiled child. Nov 2, 2007

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‘mammothrept’ has been looked up 1770 times, loved by 2 people, added to 27 lists, commented on 7 times, and is not a valid Scrabble word.