pur sang
English
Etymology
From French pur-sang (“pure blood or thoroughbred (as used of a horse)”), from pur (“pure”) and sang (“blood”).
Adjective
pur sang (not comparable)
- Beyond doubt or being a model example - the ne plus ultra or epitome, the definitive.
- 1800, "The Duke of Punch is too true an Aristocrat, pur sang, to be afraid of avowing his liking for anything […] "[1]
- 1868, "For it is only the old-fashioned sort, not girls of the period pur sang, that marry for love, or put the husband before the banker."[2]
Usage notes
- Because this is originally a French phrase, it is generally italicized when it is written.
- Generally used postpostively, as in "the Art Deco painter pur sang."
References
- “Punch's Essence of Parliament”, in Punch, volume XXXVIII, 26 May 1860, page 209
- Elizabeth Lynn Linton (1868) Modern women and what is said of them: Reprint of a series of articles in the Saturday review, J. S. Redfield