spadassin
English edit
Etymology edit
From French spadassin, itself from Italian spadaccino (“swordsman”).
Noun edit
spadassin (plural spadassins)
- a fighter, duelist.
- 1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, (please specify the book or page number):
- Bully-swordsmen, ‛Spadassins’ of that party, go swaggering; or indeed they can be had for a trifle of money.
Derived terms edit
Dutch edit
Noun edit
spadassin m (plural spadassins, diminutive spadassintje n)
- (rare, obsolete) Alternative spelling of spadassijn
French edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Italian spadaccino.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
spadassin m (plural spadassins)
Descendants edit
- → Dutch: spadassijn, spadassin
- → English: spadassin
- → Romanian: spadasin
Further reading edit
- “spadassin”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.