devshirme

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish دیوشیرمه (devşirme, literally “collection, gathering”) (Turkish devşirme).

Noun

devshirme (uncountable)

1. (historical) Systematic collection of non-Muslim boys or young men from rural Christian populations of the Balkans, practiced by Ottomans; the boys were taken to Istanbul, converted to Islam and educated for military profession or religious disciplines.

Synonyms

• blood tax

Translations

collection of non-Muslim children to be converted to Islam

• Arabic: دَوْشِيرْمَة (dawšīrma)
• Armenian: դեւշիրմե (dewširme), մանկահավաք (mankahavakʻ), մանկաժողով (mankažoġov)
• Bulgarian: девширме (devširme), кръвен данък (krǎven danǎk)
• Greek: παιδομάζωμα (el) (paidomázoma)
• Italian: devscirme
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: devşîrme

• Macedonian: данок во крв m (danok vo krv)
• Ottoman Turkish: دیوشیرمه (devşirme)
• Persian: دوشیرمه (devširme)
• Russian: де́вширме (dévširme)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: девширме, данак у крви, крвави данак

  Roman: devširme, danak u krvi, krvavi danak

• Slovene: krvni davek
• Turkish: devşirme (tr)

See also

• janissary