gendarme

[zhahn-dahrm, zhahn-darm]

noun

plural

gendarmes 

1. a police officer in any of several European countries, especially a French police officer.

2. a soldier, especially in France, serving in an army group acting as armed police with authority over civilians.

3. (formerly) a cavalryman in charge of a French cavalry squad.

gendarme

/ ʒɑ̃darm, ˈʒɒndɑːm /

noun

1. a member of the police force in France or in countries formerly influenced or controlled by France

2. a slang word for a policeman

3. a sharp pinnacle of rock on a mountain ridge, esp in the Alps

Word History and Origins

Origin of gendarme¹

1540–50; < Middle French, earlier gens d'armes, alteration of gent d'armes people at arms

Word History and Origins

Origin of gendarme¹

C16: from French, from gens d'armes people of arms

Example Sentences

Guinean singer Elie Kamano, who lives in exile, said on social media Sunday that two of his children, age 14 and 16, plus a 16-year-old nephew and his brother, a gendarme, had been abducted.

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Eventually two French gendarmes spotted them through the undergrowth and walked, slowly, forwards.

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At first the gendarmes declined to intervene and stood watching from the shore.

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We counted eighteen French gendarmes watching them from the shore, declining to intervene.

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For all the calls for greater security at schools, this crime took place literally under the noses of armed gendarmes.

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Related Words

• constable 
• detective 
• man 
• officer 
• patrolman 
• patrolwoman 
• police 
• policewoman