Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
marplot en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈmɑːplɒt/ (UK)
- /ˈmɑɹplɑt/ (General-American)
Etymology
From mar (“to spoil, to ruin”) + plot (“plan”). In earliest use as a character name in The Busie Body, by Susanna Centlivre, in 1709. Compare addle-plot.
Meanings
-
(archaic) Ruining a plan, interfering, spoilsport.
Let us argue the point with this pert, unruly, marplot conscience of mine…
1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, vol. V, letter 83:
Forms
wikipedia: Susanna Centlivre · wikipedia: The Busie Body
marplot en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈmɑːplɒt/ (UK)
- /ˈmɑɹplɑt/ (General-American)
Etymology
From mar (“to spoil, to ruin”) + plot (“plan”). In earliest use as a character name in The Busie Body, by Susanna Centlivre, in 1709. Compare addle-plot.
Meanings
-
Synonym of spoilsport, one who ruins other's plans or enjoyment of something.
Unthinking Anglo-Saxons regard him as a Gallic marplot, rather than the great twentieth-century statesman he was – certainly the greatest Frenchman since Napoleon.
2012, Michael Burleigh, “Keeping the Flame Alive”, in Literary Review, section 402:Several classical texts relate that the mighty god Kung Kung (Common Work) [translating 共工 (Gònggōng)] plays the mythic role of the marplot, that is, one who seeks to destroy the cosmos.⁴¹ Chapter Three of Huai-nan Tzu [translating 淮南子 (Huáinánzǐ)], for example, narrates how the rebellious Kung Kung fought with the sky god Chuan Hsü [translating 顓頊 /颛顼] for world domination and in his titanic fury Kung Kung broke one of the supports that separated the sky from the earth.⁴²
2006, Anne Birrell, “Myth as Sacred History”, in Chinese Myth and Culture, Cambridge: McGuinness China Monographs, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 92:“The old marplot has discovered the baby,” Monica whispered. “I suppose it cried and woke him up, and now he thinks he's witness to a miracle.”
1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter XI, in The Understanding Heart:
Forms
Deriveds
marplotry
Synonyms
one who ruins other's plans or enjoyment of something · spoilsport
wikipedia: Susanna Centlivre · wikipedia: The Busie Body