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bashi-bazouk

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: bashibazouk

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Turkish başıbozuk, from Ottoman Turkish باشی بوزوق (an irregular soldier, literally 'broken-head').

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bashi-bazouk (plural bashi-bazouks)

  1. An irregular soldier of the Ottoman army, reputed to be undisciplined and brutal.
    • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 336:
      In May 1876 the crisis deepened when Turkish irregular troops, known as bashi-bazouks, put twelve thousand Bulgarian Christians to the sword in a frenzy of blood-letting.

Derived terms

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Translations

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