taunt

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To say cruel or mocking things to someone to upset or provoke them.

   The older boys taunted him about his old shoes.

2. 2
   noun

   A cruel or mocking remark meant to upset someone.

   He ignored the taunts of the crowd and kept playing.

Simplified etymology

Taunt probably entered English in the early 16th century from French tant pour tant, “like for like” or “tit for tat,” based on tant, “so much.” An early meaning of the verb was “exchange or answer with banter.”

Compare Old French tant (“so great”), French tant (“so much”), Latin tantus (“of such size, so great, so much”). See ataunt.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary