condottiere

con·dot·tie·re

[kawn-duh-tyair-ey, -tyair-ee; Italian kawn-dawt-tye-re]
noun, plural con·dot·tie·ri [-tyair-ee; Italian -tye-ree] .
1.
a leader of a private band of mercenary soldiers in Italy, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries.
2.
any mercenary; soldier of fortune.

Origin:
1785–95; < Italian, equivalent to condott(o) (< Latin conductus hired man, past participle of condūcere to conduce; see conduct) + -iere < Latin -ārius -ary

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World English Dictionary
condottiere (ˌkɒndɒˈtjɛərɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n , pl -ri
a commander or soldier in a professional mercenary company in Europe from the 13th to the 16th centuries
 
[C18: from Italian, from condotto leadership, from condurre to lead, from Latin condūcere; see conduct]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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00:10
Condottiere is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

condottiere

leader of a band of mercenaries engaged to fight in numerous wars among the Italian states from the mid-14th to the 16th century. The name was derived from the condotta, or "contract," by which the condottieri put themselves in the service of a city or of a lord.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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