Dictionary Definition
bigot n : a prejudiced person who is intolerant
of any opinions differing from his own
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Noun
- One strongly loyal to one's own social group, and irrationally intolerant or disdainful of others.
See also
Extensive Definition
A bigot is a person who is intolerant of
opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own,
and bigotry is the corresponding ideology.
The origin of the word bigot and bigoterie in
English
dates back to at least 1598, via Middle
French, and started with the sense of "religious hypocrite",
especially a woman. Bigot is often used as a pejorative term against a
person who is obstinately devoted to prejudices even when these
views are challenged or proven to be false or not universally
applicable or acceptable.
Forms of bigotry may have a related ideology or world views.
Etymology
The exact origin of the word is unknown, but may have come from the German bei and gott, or the English by God. William Camden wrote that the Normans were first called bigots, when their Duke Rollo, who receiving Gisla, daughter of King Charles, in marriage, and with her the investiture of the dukedom, refused to kiss the king's foot in token of subjection, unless the king would hold it out for that purpose. And being urged to it by those present, Rollo answered hastily, "No by God", whereupon the King turning about, called him bigot; which name passed from him to his people. This is likely fictional, however, as Gisla is unknown in Frankish sources. It is true that the French used the term bigot as an abuse for the Normans..The 12th century Anglo-Norman author Wace claimed
that bigot was an insult that the French used against the Normans,
but it is unclear whether it entered the English language via this
route.
According to Egon Friedell, "bigot" is of the
same root as "visigoth". In Vulgar Latin the initial v transformed
into b (phenomenon today encountered in Iberian languages, such as
Spanish
language and Portuguese
language; visi had truncated into bi in Vulgar Latin
(phenomenon common in French and Portuguese). Certainly the
Visigoths
did behave in a manner which might have given birth to the
expression, as they adopted harsh policies against all other
religions after their conversion to Catholicism.
The Spanish word bigote means moustache, probably
because Visigoths had moustaches. Since both Normans and Goths were
Germanic peoples, the Franks might well have referred the Normans
as "Visigoths" with the expression bigot. This claim is also
supported by the fact that the word bigoth for Visigoths appear in
Medieval Latin language.
Notes
- http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/HistSciTech/HistSciTech-idx?type=turn&entity=HistSciTech000900240251&isize=L
- Word Histories And Mysteries: From Abracadabra to Zeus. Houghton Mifflin Company. 2004. ISBN 0-618-45450-0. p 24.
- Ayto, John. Dictionary of Word Origins: The Histories of More Than 8,000 English-Language Words. New York: Arcade Publishing. 1990.
Fact Check Responses
bigot in Simple English: Bigotry
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Anglophobe, Russophobe, approver, ass, bitter-ender, bug, bullethead, chauvinist, diehard, doctrinaire, dogmatist, dogmatizer, donkey, fanatic, fiend, freak, hardnose, hater, illiberal, infallibilist, intolerant, intransigeant, intransigent, jingo, last-ditcher, male
chauvinist, man-hater, maniac, maverick, misanthrope, misanthropist, misogynist, mule, nut, opinionist, perverse fool,
pig, pighead, positivist, purist, racist, sexist, standpat, standpatter, stickler, superpatriot, ultranationalist,
woman-hater, xenophobe, zealot