bashi-bazouk
See also: bashibazouk
English
Alternative forms
- bashibazouk
Etymology
From Turkish başıbozuk, from Ottoman Turkish باشی بوزوق (“an irregular soldier, literally 'broken-head'”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /bæʃɪbəˈzuːk/
Audio (southern England) (file)
Noun
bashi-bazouk (plural bashi-bazouks)
- An irregular soldier of the Ottoman army, reputed to be undisciplined and brutal.
- 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society 2010, p. 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.
- 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society 2010, p. 336:
Derived terms
- bashi-bazoukery
Translations
irregular soldier of the Ottoman army
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