shoat

Pronounced: shote, noun (also spelled “shote”)

Notes: I think I’ve run across this word

---

Yesterday’s word

The word demirep refers to “a woman of doubtful reputation or respectability”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

I an across this word in a Nero Wolfe story Die Like a Dog by Rex Stout. I’ve read somewhere that Rex Stout was very bright (an IQ of 185). Anyway, he frequently uses interesting words in the stories (usually spoken by Nero Wolfe). One dictionary noted that our word was “archaic” (I usually associate ‘archaic’ with words that were used before 1700). The novella Die Like a Dog was published in 1956, so I wasn’t sure about calling it ‘archaic’. I checked other dictionaries, and haven’t found it tagged ‘archaic’. Our word is a combination of demi- (half) and reputation.