Pinkerton
nounUK /ˈpɪŋkətən/ · US /ˈpɪŋkɚtən/
Etymology Habitational surname from a place near Dunbar, from an unexplained first element + Old English tūn (“enclosure”). This surname is well established in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
1
Dated An operative employed by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency founded by Allan Pinkerton (1819–1884).
- My heart wells up in admiration of the man, as I think of his participation in the memorable struggle of Homestead. He fought the Pinkertons, the myrmidons of Capital.1912, Alexander Berkman, chapter 6, in Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist:
- He joined the pickets in the bloody Homestead steel strike of 1892, and actually went so far as to jostle a Pinkerton.1950 September 4, “Kiss the Donkey”, in Time:
- Derived terms
- Pinkertonian, Pinkertonism, Pinkerton syndrome