sizar

or siz·er

[ sahy-zer ]

noun

1. (at Cambridge University and at Trinity College, Dublin) an undergraduate who receives maintenance aid from the college.

sizar

/ ˈsaɪzə /

noun

1. (at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and Trinity College, Dublin) an undergraduate receiving a maintenance grant from the college

Derived Forms

• ˈsizarˌship, noun

Other Words From

• sizar·ship noun
• sub·sizar noun
• sub·sizar·ship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sizar¹

First recorded in 1580–90; size ¹ + -ar ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of sizar¹

C16: from earlier sizer, from size ¹(meaning ``an allowance of food, etc'')

Example Sentences

Son of craftspeople and perhaps farmers—there were also a few watchmakers among his forbears—Horrocks had been a local wunderkind who entered Emmanuel College in Cambridge at age 14 as a sizar—a poor student whose duties, along with studies, included the preparation of meals, waiting on tables, and custodial work.

From Scientific American

He did not generally join in any athletic pastimes, but when the stroke of his college eight fainted from excitement just before the start, the neglected sizar threw off his threadbare coat, leapt into the vacant seat, and won his crew at once the proud position of head of the river by the simple process of making four bumps on the same night, explaining afterwards that he had practised in a dingey and saw how it could be done.

From Project Gutenberg

A student at Oxford who is supplied with provisions from the buttery; formerly, one who paid for nothing but what he called for, answering nearly to a sizar at Cambridge.

From Project Gutenberg

His family was poor, and the register of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, testifies to his entry as sizar on the 18th of May 1632.

From Project Gutenberg

On the 19th of May 1647 he entered Christ’s College, Cambridge, as a sizar, and in the following year took his degree of B.A.

From Project Gutenberg