bersagliere

American  

[ber-suhl-yair-ee, ber-sah-lye-re] / ˌbɛr səlˈjɛər i, ˌbɛr sɑˈljɛ rɛ /

noun

• bersaglieri
  plural

1. one of a class of riflemen or sharpshooters in the Italian army.

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bersagliere British  

/ ˌbɛəsɑːˈljɛərɪ /

noun

1. a member of a rifle regiment in the Italian Army

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• bersaglieri
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bersagliere

1860–65; < Italian: literally, marksman, equivalent to bersagl ( io ) target (< Old French bersail; bers ( er ) to hunt (perhaps < Germanic; compare Middle High German birsen, German birschen, pirschen to hunt) + -ail noun suffix) + -iere -ary

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bersagliere bersaglieri

It was not so fast as the running step of the Italian bersagliere, but as fast as our "double-quick."

From With the Allies by Richard Harding Davis

After Italy had declared war against Austria, he joined the corpo dei bersaglieri, went to the front and was in 1917 wounded.

From Time Magazine Archive

Some companies of bersaglieri arrived from Naples and united in resisting the attacks of the Bourbon troops, who were in the end repelled and compelled to retire.

From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 17 by Charles F. (Charles Francis) Horne

On the platforms of the small stations we passed, I saw foreign soldiers belonging to the Allied Forces; here fair Teuton giants, there short, brown bersaglieri.

From Empires and Emperors of Russia, China, Korea, and Japan Notes and Recollections by Monsignor Count Vay de Vaya and Luskod by P?ter Vay

I had no fear of seeing the brave bersaglieri of his Holiness here.

From The Finger of Fate A Romance by Mayne Reid

Sometimes, where the ground was hilly, we had bersaglieri with us, and as the brigands took to the mountains the warfare assumed a different character.

From Stories By English Authors: Italy (Selected by Scribners) by Laurence Oliphant