troglodyte

From Latin trōglodyta (“cave dwelling people”), from Ancient Greek τρωγλοδύτης (trōglodútēs, “one who dwells in holes”), from τρώγλη (trṓglē, “hole”) +‎ δύω (dúō, “I get into”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹɒɡlədaɪt/, /ˈtɹɒɡləʊdaɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɹɑɡlədaɪt/, /ˈt͡ʃɹɑɡloʊdaɪt/

• Audio (US):

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troglodyte (plural troglodytes)

1. A member of a supposed prehistoric race that lived in caves or holes, a caveman.
2. (by extension) Anything that lives underground.

   The cave was populated by albino scorpions, blind salamanders, and other troglodytes.

   • 1997 November 9, Josephine Humphreys, “The Loire Valley, Land of Kings and Troglodytes”, in The New York Times Style Magazine‎^[1]:

     Inhabited as early as the Gallo-Roman era, the caves of the troglodytes are slighted in guidebooks, naturally overshadowed by the chateaus of the kings.

3. The Eurasian wren, Troglodytes troglodytes.
4. (derogatory) A reclusive, reactionary or out-of-date person, especially if brutish.
   • 2013, John Rentoul, Tony Blair: Prime Minister, Faber & Faber, →ISBN:

     Blair brought out the febrile intensity of Stanhope, wiring himself into his ever more circumscribed troglodyte world, speculating moodily on the worm that went down when it thought it was coming up. Robert Philp thought Blair's ...

5. (computing) A person who chooses not to keep up to date with the latest software and hardware.

• trog
• troglodyke
• troglodytic

Learned borrowing from Latin trōglodyta (“cave dwelling people”), itself borrowed from Ancient Greek τρωγλοδύτης (trōglodútēs, “one who dwells in holes”).

• IPA^(key): /tʁɔ.ɡlɔ.dit/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio:

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troglodyte m or f by sense (plural troglodytes)

1. troglodyte

troglodyte m (plural troglodytes)

1. wren
2. chimpanzee

• troglodyte mignon

• “troglodyte”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.