colporteur

A colporteur carries a heavy bag of books along a country road.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A traveling seller of books: "colporteur" refers to a person who travels from place to place selling books, especially religious texts such as Bibles or pamphlets.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The colporteur arrived in the village with a cart full of Bibles and religious pamphlets. (A traveling seller of religious books.)
  • During the 19th century, colporteurs were common in rural areas, bringing literature to isolated communities. (Historical context of itinerant book sellers.)

Advanced Usage

• "Colporteur work": the activity or profession of being a colporteur.

  • He dedicated his life to colporteur work, distributing religious texts across the region. (The occupation of traveling book selling.)

• "Colporteur ministry": a religious mission involving the distribution of Bibles and religious materials.

  • The church supported a colporteur ministry to spread its teachings in remote areas. (A religious outreach program.)

Variants and Related Words

• Colportage (n): the trade or practice of a colporteur; the distribution of books, especially religious ones, by traveling sellers.
  • Colportage was an important method of spreading religious literature before modern printing. (The system or act of selling books by traveling.)

Synonyms

• Book peddler: a person who sells books door-to-door or on the street.
• Itinerant bookseller: a traveling seller of books.
• Bible seller: specifically, a colporteur who sells Bibles.

Related Idioms

• No common idioms: The word "colporteur" is a specialized term and does not appear in common idiomatic expressions.