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instit

primary-school teacher (informal)

noun een-STEET Rare
People & Society Education

Origin: truncation of instituteur / institutrice

Usage Note

Instit is a familiar shortening of instituteur (male) or institutrice (female), the traditional French term for a primary-school teacher. It is common in everyday speech and journalism, while official or administrative contexts use professeur des écoles (the current official title since 1991). The gender of the speaker or subject can be indicated by context, as the truncated form is gender-neutral.

Examples

"L'instit leur a lu une histoire avant la récréation."

Natural Translation

The teacher read them a story before break.

Literal Translation

The teacher to-them has read a story before the break.

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