greenhorn
An inexperienced personAn inexperienced person; a novice, beginner, or newcomer.
» The greenhorn made a rookie mistake.
Meaning
2 senses(US)An inexperienced person; a novice, beginner, or newcomer.
Grünschnabel, Gelbschnabel
новичо́кnovičók, новоприбы́вшийnovopribývšij, зелёныйzeljónyj
(ethnic, offensive, slur)A Portuguese person.
- an awkward and inexperienced youth
Examples
2 sentencesThe greenhorn made a rookie mistake.
She's no longer a greenhorn.
ruОна уже не новичок.
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Inherited from Middle English grene horn, which is attested for “horn of a recently killedInherited from Middle English grene horn, which is attested for “horn of a recently killed animal” and as the name of a horse. It may also have been used of young horned animals. In all cases “green” refers to the idea of “fresh, young, recent”, taken from plants and used in Middle English for all kinds of things irrespective of their colour, e.g. wounds, leather, fish, cheese (see green cheese). Figurative use for people dates from the 17th century. Compare semantically German Grünschnabel (literally “green-beak”). By surface analysis, green + horn.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: greenhorns| Singular | greenhorn |
|---|---|
| Plural | greenhorns |
regular