Chetnik

American  

[chet-neek, chet-nik] / tʃɛtˈnik, ˈtʃɛt nɪk /

noun

1. a member of a Serbian nationalist group that fought against the Turks in the early part of the 20th century and carried on guerrilla warfare during World War I and II.

---

Chetnik British  

/ ˈtʃɛtnɪk, tʃɛtˈniːk /

noun

1. a Serbian nationalist belonging to a group that fought against the Turks before World War I and engaged in guerrilla warfare during both World Wars

2. a member of a Serbian nationalist paramilitary group fighting to retain Serbian influence in the countries which formerly constituted Yugoslavia

---

Etymology

Origin of Chetnik

1905–10; < Serbo-Croatian čȅtnīk guerrilla, equivalent to čȅt ( a ) troop (cognate with Old Russian cheta, Czech četa ) + -nīk agent suffix ( -nik )

Example Sentences

"In any case, the cap is part of the folklore, the traditional outfit of people here. When it comes to the insignia in the photo, that wasn't the Chetnik insignia - it was the insignia of the old Yugoslav army from the First World War, in which many Bosniaks served."

From BBC

The ghost of Mihailovic's ultra-nationalist Chetnik fighters was revived by some Serb paramilitaries as they fought to carve out a Greater Serbia during Yugoslavia's bloody disintegration.

From Reuters

Soon 15 to 20 uniformed Chetnik Freedom Fighters arrived and took everything from them and their plane except sufficient clothing to keep warm.

From Washington Times

Newsweek’s reporter noted that neighbours, wise to the circumstances of Alen’s birth, had already begun to describe him as the “little Chetnik”, a derogatory term for a Serb.

From Newsweek

“It is enough for me to say that written on the wall behind the boy on either side is UCK — Kosovo Liberation Army — and on the other the Serbian Chetnik nationalist symbol,” she noted.

From New York Times