gendarme
pronunciation
How to pronounce gendarme in British English:
UK [ˈʒɒndɑ:m]
How to pronounce gendarme in American English:
US [ˈʒɑndɑrm]
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- Noun:
- a French policeman
Word Origin
- gendarme (n.)
- "French military police," 1796, from French (they were first organized in France 1790); earlier "mounted trooper" (1540s), from French contraction (14c.) of gens d'armes "men at arms." Gens is plural of gent "nation, people," from Latin gentem (nominative gens) "race, nation, people" (see genus). For armes see arm (n.2). Related: Gendarmerie, gendarmeryFrench also had gens de (la) robe "lawyers," which was sometimes borrowed in English.
Example
- 1. The surveyor asked of the station gendarme .
- 2. The gendarme escorted herzen to his first stint of internal exile , where he would spend four years for his anti-tsarist sentiments .
- 3. " Well , " yawned the gendarme , " go outside the station , there are sometimes peasants in the yard there , they will take passengers . "
- 4. Mr hollande had also made clear that it was no longer his intention for france to play the role of regional gendarme , stepping in to prop up african rulers , as has been the post-colonial tradition under the fifth republic .