pur sang

English

Etymology

From French pur-sang (“pure blood or thoroughbred (as used of a horse)”), from pur (“pure”) and sang (“blood”).

Adjective

pur sang (not comparable)

  1. Beyond doubt or being a model example - the ne plus ultra or epitome, the definitive.
    • 1800, "The Duke of Punch is too true an Aristocrat, pur sang, to be afraid of avowing his liking for anything […] "[1]
    • 1868, "For it is only the old-fashioned sort, not girls of the period pur sang, that marry for love, or put the husband before the banker."[2]

Usage notes
  • Because this is originally a French phrase, it is generally italicized when it is written.
  • Generally used postpostively, as in "the Art Deco painter pur sang."

References
  1. “Punch's Essence of Parliament”, in Punch, volume XXXVIII, 26 May 1860, page 209
  2. Elizabeth Lynn Linton (1868) Modern women and what is said of them: Reprint of a series of articles in the Saturday review, J. S. Redfield
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