quidnunc
nounUK, US /ˈkwɪdˌnʌŋk/
Etymology From Latin quid nunc? (“what now?”).
1
Archaic A person eager to learn news and scandal.
- The College Sloven, or embroidered Spark, The purple Prelate, or the parish Clerk, The quiet Quidnunc, or demanding Prig, The plaintiff Tory, or defendant Whig;1730, Edward Young, “Epistle I.”, in Two Epistles to Mr. Pope, Concerning the Authors of the Age:
- We all did our duty, which, in the patriot's, soldier's, and gentleman's language, is a very comprehensive word, of great honour, meaning, and import, and of which the generality of idle quidnuncs and coffee-house politicians can hardly form any but a very mean and contemptible idea.1785, Rudolf Erich Raspe, chapter V, in The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen:
1 more example
- […] but still something was necessary to convince the community at large, to quiet those praying quidnuncs who should come after them--in short, the world must be satisfied.1809, Washington Irving, chapter VIII, in Knickerbocker's History of New York, volume 5:
- Derived terms
- quidnuncery, quidnunctious