cadre

[ka-drey, kah-drey]

noun

1. Military.,  the key group of officers and enlisted personnel necessary to establish and train a new military unit.

2. a group of trained or otherwise qualified personnel capable of forming, training, or leading an expanded organization, as a religious or political faction, or a skilled workforce.

   They hoped to form a cadre of veteran party members.

3. (especially in Communist countries) a cell of trained and devoted workers.

4. a member of a cadre; a person qualified to serve in a cadre.

5. a framework, outline, or scheme.

cadre

/ ˈkɑːdə /

noun

1. the nucleus of trained professional servicemen forming the basis for the training of new units or other military expansion

2. a basic unit or structure, esp of specialists or experts; nucleus; core

3. a group of revolutionaries or other political activists, esp when taking part in military or terrorist activities

4. a member of a cadre

cadre

1. An elite or select group that forms the core of an organization and is capable of training new members.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cadre¹

First recorded in 1905–10; from French: “frame, border, bounds, cadre” (metaphorically, the cadre being the framework into which temporary personnel are fit), from Italian quadro, from Latin quadrum “square”; quadri-

Word History and Origins

Origin of cadre¹

C19: from French, from Italian quadro, from Latin quadrum square

Example Sentences

"These medical personnel and cadres, they are not hostages," the man in the blazer says.

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California has banned the use of masks among law enforcement agencies, but on Tuesday a cadre of masked agents gathered in an offsite Dodger Stadium parking lot while carrying out more raids.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

An incompetent American foreign-policy cadre failed to win wars, advance democracy or build peace.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This summer, MacArthur Park became the site of a federal show of force when a cadre of masked immigration agents stormed the park in armored vehicles and on horseback.

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In July, it issued new guidelines calling for the elimination of "toxic influence" in the military and listing out "iron rules" for cadres.

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Related Words

• organization 
• personnel 
• staff