gendarme

[ zhahn-dahrm; French zhahn-darm ]
See synonyms for gendarme on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural gen·darmes [zhahn-dahrmz; French zhahn-darm]. /ˈʒɑn dɑrmz; French ʒɑ̃ˈdarm/.
  1. a police officer in any of several European countries, especially a French police officer.

  2. a soldier, especially in France, serving in an army group acting as armed police with authority over civilians.

  1. (formerly) a cavalryman in charge of a French cavalry squad.

Origin of gendarme

1
1540–50; <Middle French, earlier gens d'armes, alteration of gent d'armes people at arms

Words Nearby gendarme

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use gendarme in a sentence

  • The gendarme passed on, without deigning to thank the wretched looking man in a faded fez and torn coat.

  • He finished with a gesture of supreme disgust, as if friendship with a gendarme were the basest of crimes.

    The Isle of Unrest | Henry Seton Merriman
  • When mother had recovered enough to speak she began to argue with the gendarme, telling him our story and begging him to be kind.

  • Mamma asked him why, but he said nothing and left the car, another gendarme entering as he did so.

British Dictionary definitions for gendarme

gendarme

/ (ˈʒɒndɑːm, French ʒɑ̃darm) /


noun
  1. a member of the police force in France or in countries formerly influenced or controlled by France

  2. a slang word for a policeman

  1. a sharp pinnacle of rock on a mountain ridge, esp in the Alps

Origin of gendarme

1
C16: from French, from gens d'armes people of arms

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012