pugilist

English

Etymology

From Latin pugil (“boxer”) +‎ -ist, related to pugnus (“fist”), from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“prick, punch”). Compare contemporary pugilism (“boxing”) (1791).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpjuː.d͡ʒəlɪst/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpju(ː).d͡ʒəlɪst/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

pugilist (plural pugilists)

1. One who fights with their fists, especially a professional prize fighter; a boxer. [from 1790]

   Synonym: (informal) pug

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick:

     I laugh and hoot at ye, ye cricket-players, ye pugilists, ye deaf Burkes and blind Bendigoes!

   • 2018, Alan Burdick, “Science has Resolved the Question of Boxers vs. Briefs”, in The New Yorker‎^[1]:

     In 1925, boxer shorts were unleashed on the world: loose-fitting underwear for men, featuring an elastic waistband inspired by the shorts worn by boxers. It was underwear for the inner pugilist.

2. (figurative) One who engages in rhetorical attacks on behalf of another.
   • 2025 January 31, Cameron Joseph, “Why Republicans blasted Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. – and bear-hugged Kash Patel”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

     Mr. Patel has a long record as a fierce pugilist for Mr. Trump, pushing some of the pro-Trump orbit’s most dubious theories[.]

Derived terms

• pugilistic

Related terms

• pugilism
• pugnacious

Translations

one who fights with their fists — see also boxer

• Arabic: مُلَاكِم m (mulākim)
• Basque: boxeolari (eu)
• Bulgarian: боксьор m (boksjor)
• Catalan: boxador m, boxejador
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 拳擊手 / 拳击手 (zh) (quánjīshǒu), 拳師 / 拳师 (zh) (quánshī), 拳手 (zh) (quánshǒu)

• Czech: boxer (cs) m
• Dutch: bokser (nl) m, vuistvechter m, pugilist (nl) m
• Faroese: nevaleikari m
• Finnish: nyrkkeilijä (fi)
• French: boxeur (fr) m
• Galician: boxeador m, boxeadora f
• German: Boxer (de) m, Boxerin (de) f
• Greek: πυγμάχος (el) m (pygmáchos), μποξέρ (el) m (boxér)

  Ancient: πύκτης m (púktēs)

• Hebrew: מִתְאַגְרֵף m (mitagref), מתאגרפת f (mitagrefet)
• Hungarian: bokszoló (hu), ökölvívó (hu)
• Icelandic: boxari (is) m, hnefaleikari m
• Ido: boxero (io), boxisto (io)
• Irish: dornálaí (ga) m, bacsálaí m
• Italian: pugile (it) m, boxeur (it) m
• Japanese: ボクサー (ja) (bokusā), 拳闘家 (けんとうか, kentōka)
• Kazakh: боксшы (boksşy)
• Korean: 복서 (bokseo)
• Latin: pugil
• Malay: peninju, ahli tinju
• Maori: kaimotomoto
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bokser (no) m

  Nynorsk: boksar m

• Old English: bēatere m
• Persian: بوکسور (fa) (boksor)
• Polish: bokser (pl) m, bokserka (pl) f, pięściarz (pl) m, pięściarka (pl) f
• Portuguese: boxeador (pt) m, boxeadora f, pugilista (pt) m or f
• Romanian: boxer (ro) m, boxeră f
• Russian: боксёр (ru) m (boksjór)
• Spanish: boxeador (es) m, boxeadora (es) f
• Swahili: bondia (sw)
• Thai: นักมวย (th) (nák-muai)
• Turkish: boksör (tr)
• Ukrainian: боксе́р (uk) m (boksér), боксе́рka f (boksérka)
• Welsh: paffiwr m, bocsiwr m

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French pugiliste.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpy.ɣiˈlɪst/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pu‧gi‧list
• Rhymes: -ɪst

Noun

pugilist m (plural pugilisten, feminine pugiliste)

1. pugilist, boxer, fistfighter

   Synonyms: bokser, vuistvechter

Derived terms

• pugiliste
• pugilistiek
• pugilistisch

Related terms

• pugilisme

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French pugiliste.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pu.d͡ʒiˈlist/

Noun

pugilist m (plural pugiliști, feminine equivalent pugilistă)

1. pugilist, boxer (participant in a boxing match)

   Synonym: boxer

Declension

Declension of pugilist

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	pugilist	pugilistul		pugiliști	pugiliștii
genitive-dative	pugilist	pugilistului		pugiliști	pugiliștilor
vocative	pugilistule			pugiliștilor

Related terms

• pugila
• pugilat
• pugilism
• pugilistic
• pugilistică

References

• pugilist in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)