Meanings
nounpothunter (plural pothunters)
plural pothunters
- broadlyhobbiesA person who competes solely to win prizes.
- archaeologyA person who seeks artifacts for their personal collection or to sell without regard to their cultural importance.
But hundreds, perhaps thousands of artifacts have been taken by amateur pothunters, whose activities can disturb the soil and ruin the chance of serious research.
2007 December 12, Anthony Depalma, “An Island in the Hudson, Plundered in Search of Indian Artifacts”, in New York Times
Origin
From pot + hunter – in hunting sense, “for the (cooking) pot (to eat)”; in the archeology sense, “seeking old pots (to sell)”.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
pothunter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pothunter
MLA
“pothunter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pothunter. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pothunter,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pothunter.
Source: pothunter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.