Interloper Definition
ĭntər-lōpər
interlopers
noun
interlopers
An unauthorized trading vessel in areas assigned to monopolies or chartered companies.
Webster's New World
Any unauthorized trader.
Webster's New World
One that intrudes in a place, situation, or activity.
American Heritage
A person who meddles in others' affairs.
Webster's New World
A ship or other vessel used in such trade.
American Heritage
Other Word Forms of Interloper
Noun
Singular:
interloper
Plural:
interlopersOrigin of Interloper
-
1590s, from inter- + loper (“runner, rover”), as in landloper (“vagrant”) (from Dutch) or lope (“to leap, to jump”) (originally dialectical). Originally spelt enterloper and used in specific sense “unauthorized trader trespassing on privileges of chartered companies”, later general sense of “self-interested intruder” from 1630s.
From Wiktionary
inter– probably Middle Dutch lōper runner (from lōpen to run)
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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