chiaus
Americannoun
plural
chiauses-
(in the Ottoman Empire) a court official who served as an ambassador, emissary, or member of a ceremonial escort.
-
a Turkish military rank approximating that of sergeant.
Etymology
Origin of chiaus
1590–1600; < Turkish çavuş < Persian chāwush
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There is no doubt that it comes from a Turkish word meaning interpreter, spelt chaus in Hakluyt and chiaus by Ben Jonson.
From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest
See Li Estoires de chiaus qus conquisent Constantinoble. de Robert de Clari en aminois, chevalier, pp. 60-62.
From Memoirs or Chronicle of the Fourth Crusade and the Conquest of Constantinople by Villehardouin, Geoffroi de
Come, noble doctor, pray thee let's prevail; This is the gentleman, and he is no chiaus.
From The Alchemist by Jonson, Ben
The peculations of a certain "chiaus" in the year A.D.
From The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3 by Coleridge, Ernest Hartley
What do you think of me, That I am a chiaus?
From The Alchemist by Jonson, Ben
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
