bersagliere

[ ber-suhl-yair-ee; Italian ber-sah-lye-re ]

noun,plural ber·sa·glie·ri [ber-suhl-yair-ee; Italian ber-sah-lye-ree]. /ˌbɛr səlˈyɛər i; Italian ˌbɛr sɑˈlyɛ ri/.
  1. one of a class of riflemen or sharpshooters in the Italian army.

Origin of bersagliere

1
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

Words Nearby bersagliere

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How to use bersagliere in a sentence

  • Loud voices are singing the bersagliere hymn as a duet under my window.

  • A bersagliere prisoner who recognised the King, at a sign from him gave the required testimony, and he was allowed to pass.

    The Liberation of Italy | Countess Evelyn Martinengo-Cesaresco
  • An Austrian corporal fell, mortally wounded by a bersagliere whom he conjured, in Italian, to listen to what he had got to say.

    The Liberation of Italy | Countess Evelyn Martinengo-Cesaresco
  • A newsboy was calling out the Fanfulla and the bersagliere for sale.

    The conquest of Rome | Matilde Serao

British Dictionary definitions for bersagliere

bersagliere

/ (ˌbɛəsɑːˈljɛərɪ) /


nounplural -ri (-riː)
  1. a member of a rifle regiment in the Italian Army

Origin of bersagliere

1
C19: from Italian, from bersaglio target, from Old French bersail, from berser to fire at

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