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rapparee

 - 4 dictionary results

rap⋅pa⋅ree

  [rap-uh-ree]
Use rapparee in a Sentence
–noun
1. an armed Irish freebooter or plunderer, esp. of the 17th century.
2. any freebooter or robber.
Origin:
1680–90; < Ir rapaire
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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rap·pa·ree   (rāp'ə-rē')   
n.  

  1. A freebooting soldier of 17th-century Ireland.

  2. A bandit or robber.


[Irish Gaelic rapaire, variant of ropaire, cutpurse, from ropaid, he stabs.]
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

rapparee 
"Irish freebooter," 1690, originally "pikeman," from Ir. rapairidhe, pl. of rapaire "half-pike." Kind of soldier prominent in the war of 1688-92.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

rapparee

any of the dispossessed native Irish who employed guerrilla methods to resist the English from the time of the English Civil Wars (1642-51) and more especially after the regular Irish army had surrendered in the Jacobite war (1689-91) in Ireland. They were termed rapparees after their weapons, short pikes (Irish: rapaire). The elusiveness of the rapparees confounded the British for a time, but superior forces, plus Britain's ability to insulate Ireland from foreign, particularly French, support, ended the insurgency.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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