mousquetaire

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French mousquetaire. Doublet of musketeer.

Noun

mousquetaire (plural mousquetaires)

1. (historical) A musketeer, especially one of the French royal musketeers of the 17th and 18th centuries, famed for their daring and their fine clothing.
   • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:

     [H]is adversary, swelling with rage, cocked his hat fiercely in his face, and fixing his hands in his sides, pronounced with the most imperious tone, “Heark ye, Mr. Round Periwig, you must know that I am a mousquetaire.”

2. A mousquetaire cuff or mousquetaire glove, or other article of dress imagined to resemble those worn by the French mosquetaires.
3. (historical) A woman's cloak trimmed with ribbons, with large buttons, fashionable in the mid-19th century.
4. (historical) A broad turnover linen collar worn in the mid-19th century.

Derived terms

• mousquetaire cuff
• mousquetaire glove

 

References

• James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Mousquetaire”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes VI, Part 2 (M–N), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 787, column 1.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French. By surface analysis, mousquet +‎ -aire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mus.kə.tɛʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

mousquetaire m (plural mousquetaires)

1. musketeer

Further reading

• “mousquetaire”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.