cipaye
French edit
Etymology edit
From Turkish sipahi, from Persian سپاهي (sipāhī) ‘horseman, soldier’ (> English sepoy), from سپاه (sipāh) ‘army’.
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Noun edit
cipaye m (plural cipayes)
- a native Indian infantry soldier in a French colonial regiment prior to 1898, when they were disbanded and replaced by a locally recruited gendarmerie. Cipayes were the French equivalent of the Indian sepoys in British service
Related terms edit
- spahi m
Further reading edit
- “cipaye”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.