Dictionary

ogre en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈoʊ.ɡɚ/ (General-American)
• (Australia) audio
• (US) audio
• /ˈəʊ.ɡə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• ōʹgər (General-American)

Etymology

First attested in the 18th century, borrowed from French ogre, from Latin Orcus (“god of the underworld”), from Ancient Greek Ὅρκος (Hórkos), the personified demon of oaths (ὅρκος (hórkos, “oath”)) who inflicts punishment upon oath-breakers. Doublet of orc and Orcus.

Meanings

1. A large, grotesque, brutish humanoid monster, typically marked by great strength and a propensity to kill or devour humans.
   • From his end of the hall Beowulf watched the ogre, weighed his endowment, and waited to see how Grendel would strike. 1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 29:
   • And the conquest of the ogres comes at the right moment: not in earliest youth, though the nicors are referred in Beowulf's geogoðfeore as a presage of the kind of hero we have to deal with[.] 1936, J. R. R. Tolkien, Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, Norwood, Pa.: Norwood Editions, published 1976, page 32:
   • And in the seventh tale of the third day of the same collection, when Corvetto had hidden himself under the Ogre's bed to steal his quilt, "he began to pull quite gently, when the Ogre awoke, and bid his wife not to pull the clothes that way, or she'd strip him, and he would get his death of cold." "Why, it's you that are stripping me," replied the Ogress, "and you have not left a stitch on me." "Where the devil is the quilt?" says the Ogre[.] 1828, Thomas Keightley, Fairy Mythology, volume II, page 237:
   • If I came suddenly upon a well where women were drawing water or children bathing, a sudden flight was the certain result; which things occurring day after day, were very unpleasant to a person who does not like to be disliked, and who had never been accustomed to be treated as an ogre. 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 350:
2. (figuratively) A cruel person.
   • People are going to think I'm an ogre if I refuse to buy coffee for my little brother!

Forms

Deriveds

ogrelike · ogreous · ogrely · ogresque · she-ogre · ogreless · ogreism · ogrish · ogreness · ogreish

Relateds

ogress

Translations (87)

cmn 怪物 (large beast) · ru зверь (brutish man) · ru велика́н-людое́д (brutish giant) · gl urco (brutish giant) · gl orco (brutish giant) · mr दानव (brutish giant) · el δράκοντας (brutish giant) · mhn ork (brutish giant) · sh ogrezlo (brutish giant) · shn ၽီလူး (brutish giant) · de Grobian (brutish man) · fi raakalainen (brutish man) · ja オーガ (brutish giant) · nl ondier (large beast) · sv best (brutish man) · ki irimũ (brutish giant) · ca ogre (brutish giant) · gl coco (brutish giant) · sw pandikizi la mtu (brutish giant) · id buto (brutish giant) · ru скот (brutish man) · fr ogre (brutish giant) · mi kākarepō (brutish giant) · fa غول (brutish giant) · cs obr lidožrout (brutish giant) · de Unmensch (brutish man) · ja 鬼 (brutish man) · sv odjur (large beast) · sv troll (brutish man) · fi jättiläinen (brutish giant) · my ဘီလူး (brutish giant) · ru чудо́вище (large beast) · ast ogru (brutish giant) · eo ogro (brutish giant) · ru чудо́вище (brutish man) · gl papón (brutish giant) · io ogro (brutish giant) · oj wiindigoo (wiindigoo) (brutish giant) · bg великан човекоядец (brutish giant) · de Rüpel (brutish man) · de Rohling (brutish man) · de Brutalo (brutish man) · sv rese (brutish giant) · ar غُول (brutish giant) · hu ogre (brutish giant) · cs zlobr (brutish giant) · eu ogro (brutish giant) · ko 오거 (brutish giant) · ml ഓഗർ (brutish giant) · pt brutamontes (brutish man) · uk огр (brutish giant) · lv cilvēkēdājs (brutish giant) · ru скоти́на (brutish man) · mr राक्षस (brutish man) · de Ungeheuer (large beast) · es ogro (brutish giant) · ru огр (brutish giant) · fa غول پیکر (brutish giant) · ja 鬼 (brutish giant) · sv jätte (brutish giant) · de Oger (brutish giant) · ja おに (brutish man) · de Monster (large beast) · fi hirviö (large beast) · de Menschenfresser (brutish giant) · ko 오거 (large beast) · ar غَشِيم (brutish man) · pt ogre (brutish giant) · cmn 食人魔 (brutish giant) · mr राक्षस (brutish giant) · he מפלצת (brutish giant) · fi jätti (brutish giant) · sv best (large beast) · pt ogro (brutish giant) · th ผีปอบ (brutish giant) · ru и́зверг (brutish man) · luy okundu (brutish giant) · om bulguu (brutish giant) · ru людое́д (brutish giant) · zdj dzimku (brutish giant) · ro căpcăun (brutish giant) · nl oger (brutish giant) · it orco (brutish giant) · pl ogr (brutish giant) · tr yamyam (brutish giant) · nl boeman (brutish man) · he אוֹגֵר (brutish giant)