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Crusade

 - 3 dictionary results

cru⋅sade

  [kroo-seyd] noun, verb, -sad⋅ed, -sad⋅ing.
Use Crusade in a Sentence
–noun
1. (often initial capital letter) any of the military expeditions undertaken by the Christians of Europe in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries for the recovery of the Holy Land from the Muslims.
2. any war carried on under papal sanction.
3. any vigorous, aggressive movement for the defense or advancement of an idea, cause, etc.: a crusade against child abuse.
–verb (used without object)
4. to go on or engage in a crusade.
Origin:
1570–80; earlier crusada < Sp cruzada; r. croisade < MF. See cross, -ade 1

Related forms:
cru⋅sad⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Crusade
cru·sade   (krōō-sād')   
n.  

  1. often Crusade Any of the military expeditions undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims.

  2. A holy war undertaken with papal sanction.

  3. A vigorous concerted movement for a cause or against an abuse. See Synonyms at campaign.

intr.v.   cru·sad·ed, cru·sad·ing, cru·sades
To engage in a crusade.

[French croisade and Spanish cruzada, both ultimately from Latin crux, cruc-, cross.]
cru·sad'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

crusade 
1706, respelling of croisade (1577), from M.Fr. croisade, Sp. cruzada, both from M.L. cruciata, pp. of cruciare "to mark with a cross," from L. crux (gen. crucis) "cross." Figurative sense of "campaign against a public evil" is from 1786.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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