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 Davis, Richard Harding

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

They are a couple of bersaglieri, dressed in gray, with little round hats decked out in cock's plumes.

From The Enemies of Women (Los enemigos de la mujer) by Blasco Ib??ez, Vicente

When the morning was well advanced the bugles of the bersaglieri awakened him from a heavy sleep.

From Mare Nostrum (Our Sea) A Novel by Jordan, Charlotte Brewster

A regiment of bersaglieri was assembling for drill during the comparatively cool interval before sunset, and, on the seaward side of the plain, a squat fort pointed its guns at town and harbor.

From The Wheel O' Fortune by Tracy, Louis

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 Vay, P?ter