douzeper
/ˈduzˌpɛəɹ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
One of the legendary “twelve peers” or renowned warriors of Charlemagne, the Emperor of the Romans from 800 to 814.
noun
One of the twelve nobles granted feudal territories or episcopal sees by the King of France in return for their fealty (namely the Archbishop-Duke of Rheims; the Bishop-Dukes of Laon and Langres; the Bishop-Counts of Beauvais, Chalons, and Noyon, the Dukes of Normandy, Burgundy, and Aquitaine; and the Counts of Toulouse, Flanders and Champagne).
noun
A person considered to be like or in the model of Charlemagne’s peers; someone considered a great hero or paladin.
Example Sentences
- "Also kynge Charlemayne kynge of Fraunce / With his dyssypers Rowland and Olyuer / With all the resydue of his alyaunce / That in all armes so noble were / On goddys ennemyes brake many a spere / Causynge them to flee to theyr grete vylony / Hardynes was cause that they had vyctory"
- "[T]hou art one of the Douze peers already, and fate has forestalled our intended promotion. Yet rise up, sweet Sir Oliver Thatchpate, Knight of the honourable order of the Pumpkin—Rise up, in the name of Nonsense, and begone about thine own concerns, in the devil’s name."
- "Ferumbras, despising Oliver’s youthful appearance, tries to frighten him[…]; asks him to describe Charles [i.e., Charlemagne] and the douzeperes[…]; and enquires his name[…]. Oliver declaring himself to be a poor knight, Ferumbras derides him, and bids him return and send Roland, or another of the douzeperes[…]."
- "Cortine, Corteyne, or Cortayn was the name given to the sword of Ogier, one of the celebrated Douzeperes of Charlemagne."
- "The knights of the Round Table and the douzepers were closely associated by virtue of the juxtaposition of Arthur and Charlemagne in the Nine Worthies."
- "Roland defiantly accepts the post of danger; the douzepers and other knights join him. Ganelon leads the van of the army as it starts again toward France. The Saracens prepare for battle."
Etymology
From Middle English dosse per, dousse-per (“one of Charlemagne’s twelve peers or paladins; one of the twelve great peers of France at later times; a famous knight or noble”) [and other forms], treated as a singular form of dosse pers, dousse pers [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman, Middle French douse pers, douze pers [and other forms], and Old French douze pers, doze pers, duze pers (“Charlemagne’s twelve peers; twelve great peers of France at later times”) [and other forms] (also in the singular forms doze per, duze per, and in Anglo-Norman and Middle French written with a Roman numeral as XII pers), from doze, douze (“twelve”) (modern French douze) + pers (plural of per (“peer”); modern French pair). Doze is derived from Latin duodecim (“twelve”), from duo (“two”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (“two”)) + decem (“ten”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ (“ten”)); per is derived from Latin pār (“equal; like”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈduzˌpɛəɹ/
- British English: /ˈduːz.pɛː/