gendarme
/ʒɑnˈdɑɹm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.25 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A policeman.
Example Sentences
- "The US is tempted to play the role of global gendarme because everyone knows that the UN, as it is, lacks the resources and capacity to fill this role."
- "The previous attempts foundered when they tried to take this gendarme directly."
- "The Arete starts easily, with several beautiful, loping pitches leading to a striking gendarme."
- "Continuing to the main summit involves ascents of the gendarmes (the first being the owl-eared one referred to in the next route description) and 140-foot rappels down their south sides."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis Proto-Italic *gentis Latin gentem Old French gentder. French gents French gens Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *-h₁ Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ Proto-Italic *dē Latin dē Old French de Middle French de French d' Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- Proto-Indo-European *h₂(e)rmos Proto-Italic *armosder. Late Latin arma Old French arme Middle French arme French armes French gens d'armes French gendarmesbf. French gendarmebor. English gendarme Borrowed from French gendarme, a back-formation from gendarmes, from gens d'armes (“people of arms, armed people”), from gens + d' + armes.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ʒɑnˈdɑɹm/
- British English: /ʒɒnˈdɑːm/
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Law.