Word.ws English Dictionary

scullion

/ˈskʌl.i.ən/

scullion noun: a servant from the lower classes. Also the alternative form of macaroni.

Noun

scullion (plural scullions)

  1. A servant from the lower classes.
    • They all looked directly at the ſcullion,—the ſcullion had juſt been ſcouring a fiſh-kettle.1762, [Laurence Sterne], chapter IX, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume V, London: […] T. Becket and P. A. Dehondt, […], →OCLC, page 52
    • "How now, you scullions and cullions: bring hither a pair of cow's hooves to out face this contumelious caitiff."1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 44
  2. (derogatory, obsolete) A low, base person.
    • Away, you scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian!c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […]...

Proper noun capitalized: Scullion

Scullion (plural Scullions)

  1. A surname from Irish.

Also used as

scullion is also the alternative form of macaroni.

Forms of scullion

Noun
pluralscullions
Verb
pluralscullions
Proper noun
pluralScullions
alternative formScallion

Origin of scullion

Either from Middle French escouillon (“a swab, cloth”), diminutive of escouve (“broom, twig”) from Latin scopa, or an alteration of Old French souillon (“scullion”) by influence of scullery.

Probably a reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Scoláidhín, a diminutive form of scolaidhe (“student”).

Questions about scullion

What does scullion mean?
Scullion means a servant from the lower classes.
What part of speech is scullion?
Scullion can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce scullion?
Scullion is pronounced /ˈskʌl.i.ən/ (UK).
What is the plural of scullion?
The plural of scullion is scullions.

Words near scullion in the dictionary

  1. Sculleys
  2. scullies
  3. Scullin
  4. sculling
  5. Scullins
  6. scullion
  7. scullionish
  8. scullionize
  9. scullionized
  10. scullionizes
  11. scullionizing

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: scullion (page history and authors); Scullion (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-scullion.wav.

Cite this entry: “scullion.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/scullion. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.