gen·darme
Audio Help [zhahn-dahrm; Fr. zhahn-darm] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [zhahn-dahrm; Fr. zhahn-darm] Pronunciation Key –noun, plural -darmes
Audio Help [-dahrmz; Fr. -darm] Pronunciation Key.
Audio Help [-dahrmz; Fr. -darm] Pronunciation Key. | 1. | a police officer in any of several European countries, esp. a French police officer. |
| 2. | a soldier, esp. in France, serving in an army group acting as armed police with authority over civilians. |
| 3. | (formerly) a cavalryman in charge of a French cavalry squad. |
[Origin: 1540–50; < MF, earlier gens d'armes, alter. of gent d'armes people at arms
]
] | Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
gendarme
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| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| gen·darme
Audio Help (zhän'därm', zhäɴ'därm') Pronunciation Key
n.
[French, from Old French gent d'armes, gendarme, sing. of gens d'armes, mounted soldiers, men-at-arms : gens, people, men (from Latin gentēs, pl. of gēns, clan; see genə- in Indo-European roots) + de, of (from Latin dē; see de-) + armes, pl. of arme, weapon; see arm2.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
gendarme
1550, from Fr. contraction of gens d'armes "men at arms," later applied to military police. Gens is pl. of gent "nation, people," from L. gentem, acc. of gens "race, nation, people" (see genus).
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| gendarme | |
noun | |
| a French policeman |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
Gendarme
Gen`darme"\, n.; pl. Gendarmes, or Gens d'armes. [F.]1. (Mil.) One of a body of heavy cavalry. [Obs.] [France] 2. An armed policeman in France. --Thackeray.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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