interloper

interloper

English

Etymology

1590s, from inter- +‎ loper (“runner, rover”), as in landloper (“vagrant”) (from lope (“to leap, to jump”) (originally dialectal). Originally spelt enterloper and used in specific sense “unauthorized trader trespassing on privileges of chartered companies”, later general sense of “self-interested intruder” from 1630s.[1]

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪntəˈləʊpə/

Noun

interloper (plural interlopers)

1. (obsolete) An unlicensed or illegitimate trader.
2. One who interferes, intrudes or gets involved where not welcome, particularly a self-interested intruder.

   They disliked the interloper, and forced him to leave.

Related terms

• interlope
• lope

Translations

one who interferes

Dutch: indringer (nl) Finnish: tungettelija (fi), tunkeilija (fi) French: intrus (fr) German: Eindringling (de) m Icelandic: boðflenna (is) f, aðskotadýr n

Italian: intruso (it) m Polish: natręt (pl) m Serbo-Croatian: uljez (sh) Spanish: intruso (es), entremetido (es) m Swedish: inkräktare c

See also

• gatecrasher, peeping tom, persona non grata, encroacher, backseat driver, kibitzer, meddler, nosy parker, marplot, buttinsky, busybody

References

1. “interloper” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.

Further reading

• Interloper in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)