pourcuttle
English
Alternative forms
- pourcontrell
Etymology
Uncertain first element + cuttle.
Noun
pourcuttle (plural pourcuttles)
- (obsolete) A cephalopod with tentacles; an octopus or cuttlefish. [16th-18th c.]
- 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in The Essayes, […], book II, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
- The fish called a Pourcontrell [transl. poulpe], or Manie-feet, changeth himselfe into what colour he lists, as occasion offereth it selfe; that so he may hide himselfe from what he feareth, and catch what he seeketh for.
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