Also 8 tauridore, tawridore, 8–9 torreadore, 9 torreador, tauridor, (tauréador). [Sp. toreador ‘a bull-baiter’ (Minsheu), mod.Sp. ‘a bull-fighter on horseback’; so in Fr. The forms in taur- agree with earlier Fr. tauréador and with L. taurus.] One who engages in a (Spanish) bull-fight, esp. on horseback; a bull-fighter.
1618. T. Lorkin, in Crt. & Times Jas. I. (1848), II. 82. The Conde de Cantilliana, that excellent Toreador, hath stolen away the wife of a Procurador de Corte.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), III. 771/1. When the price of the horses and bulls, and the wages of the Torreadores, have been paid.
1823. Byron, Age of Bronze, vii. Up! up again! undaunted Tauridor!
1825. T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Passion & Princ., xii. III. 263. As the Matador puts the finishing stroke to the … victim of the lighter efforts of the Picadores and Torreadores who have preceded him.
1826. Times 7 Aug., 1/6. This morning there was tumult at a bull-fight, occasioned by the appearance, in the arena, of a Toreador, who, having belonged to the constitutional militia, lately got himself purified, and now came forward for the first time.
1884. Pall Mall G., 3 June, 3/2. The entertainment commenced with a flourish of trumpets as the tauréadors, five in number, marched in, bowed to the public, and ranged themselves.
¶ b. Erroneously used for ‘bull-fight.’ Obs.
1728. ? De Foe, Capt. Carleton’s Mem., 304. A Diversion less to be complained of than their Tauridores; because attended with less Cruelty to the Beast, as well as Danger to the Spectator.
c. attrib.. esp. in fancy names of styles of women’s hats or dresses.
1892. Daily News, 14 Nov., 6/3. The Zouave is as great a favourite as it has been for some seasons, and though it varies in form—being sometimes a bolero, sometimes a toreador, and sometimes a cross between an Eton jacket and a Zouave.
1899. Westm. Gaz., 5 Oct., 3/2. The toreador toque is another very popular species just now—a toque, or really a hat, of rounded crown and rounded brim that is always much tilted to one side by a broad bandeau.
