Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

printer's devil

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.24 in modern English

Syllables: print-er's dev-il
IPA

19

Scrabble Score

13

Letters

3

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An apprentice printer.

Dated

Example Sentences

"The latest of the personal magazinettes to come under our observation is The East Side, a peculiarly New York product, of which Zoe Anderson Norris, of 338 East Fifteenth street, is printer's devil […]"

Etymology

Of unclear etymology. The most widely accepted theories are that apprentice printers were often covered in ink, giving them a demonic appearance, or that they were responsible for errors in manuscripts and thus associated with Titivillus, the supposed devil of scribal errors. See Wikipedia for further details.

Usage

Dated

Inflected Forms

printer's devils (plural) printers' devils (plural)

Phrases

printer's devilry

Questions

What does printer's devil mean?: An apprentice printer.
Where does printer's devil come from?: Of unclear etymology. The most widely accepted theories are that apprentice printers were often covered in ink, giving them a demonic appearance, or that they were responsible for errors in manuscripts and thus associated with Titivillus, the supposed devil of scribal errors. See Wikipedia for further details.

How to pronounce printer's devil

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