poilu

[ pwah-loo; French pwa-ly ]

noun

, plural poi·lus [pwah, -looz, pw, a, -, ly].

1. a French common soldier.

poilu

/ ˈpwɑːluː; pwaly /

noun

1. an infantryman in the French Army, esp one in the front lines in World War I

Word History and Origins

Origin of poilu¹

1910–15; < French, in earlier slang: tough individual, tough, brave, literally, hairy, haired; Middle French, Old French pelu ( plew ) < Vulgar Latin *pilūtus, equivalent to Latin pil ( us ) hair + Vulgar Latin *-ūtus, for Latin -ātus -ate ¹ ( e > oi by influence of poil hair < Latin pilus )

Word History and Origins

Origin of poilu¹

C20: from French, literally: hairy (that is, virile), from poil hair, from Latin pilus a hair

Example Sentences

For their part, the poilus must have heard rumors of an evacuation.

From Literature

The poilu thought it might be a new trick of the Germans.

From Project Gutenberg

Just as we departed I received an imposing-looking missive written in flowery English, which proved to be a letter from a French poilu.

From Project Gutenberg

One place, I comes across several scores of poilus—on their permissions similar—squatting on the ground and doing—what do you suppose?

From Project Gutenberg

Bless you! the poilus did the eating; I only did the seasoning and tasting.

From Project Gutenberg