Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

hussar

[hoo-zahr]
See more synonyms for hussar on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. (originally) one of a body of Hungarian light cavalry formed during the 15th century.
  2. a member of a class of similar troops, usually with striking or flamboyant uniforms, in European armies.
Show More

Origin of hussar

1525–35; < Hungarian huszár < Serbo-Croatian hȕsār brigand, pirate < Medieval Latin cursārius corsair
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

squadron, horse, army, lancers, bowlegs

Examples from the Web for hussar

Historical Examples

  • "There is a name greater than them all," cried the hussar with eagerness.

    Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, No. 3, August, 1850.

    Various

  • "Spooney, I should say," drawled out the hussar, caressing his moustache.

    Roland Cashel

    Charles James Lever

  • At last came number 82—'Maurice Tiernay, hussar of the Ninth.'

  • "I vote for your wearing that," said the hussar, quite smitten with her beauty.

    Roland Cashel

    Charles James Lever

  • Is not this meeting here—this strolling about a garden with a young gentleman, a Hussar!

    Barrington

    Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for hussar

hussar

noun
    1. a member of any of various light cavalry regiments in European armies, renowned for their elegant dress
    2. (pl; cap when part of a name)the Queen's own Hussars
  2. a Hungarian horseman of the 15th century
Show More

Word Origin

C15: from Hungarian huszár hussar, formerly freebooter, from Old Serbian husar, from Old Italian corsaro corsair
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hussar

n.

1530s, from German Husar, from Hungarian huszár "light horseman," originally "freebooter," from Old Serbian husar, variant of kursar "pirate," from Italian corsaro (see corsair). Bodies of light horsemen organized in Hungary late 15c., widely imitated elsewhere in Europe.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper