colportage

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noun

The distribution or selling of publications via carriers, particularly devotional literature.

OriginFrench colportage →
Scrabble 15
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Meanings

nouncolportage (usually uncountable, plural colportages)

plural colportages

  1. uncountableusuallyThe distribution or selling of publications via carriers, particularly devotional literature.

Origin

  1. Frenchcolportage
  2. Englishcolportage

1840s, from French colportage, from colporteur (1723).

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

colportage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/colportage

MLA

“colportage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/colportage. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “colportage,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/colportage.

Source: colportage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.