lascar

[las-ker]

See more synonyms for lascar on Thesaurus.com

noun

an East Indian sailor.
Indian English. an artilleryman.

Origin of lascar

1615–25; < Portuguese, short for lasquarin soldier < Urdu lashkarī < Persian, equivalent to lashkar army + -ī suffix of appurtenance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for lascar

cadet, marine, pilot, boater, diver, swab, tarpaulin, mate, jack, seafarer, navigator, mariner, salt, pirate, bluejacket, shipmate, tar, windjammer, middy, lascar

Examples from the Web for lascar

Historical Examples of lascar

That is only a Lascar, one of the sailors, a picturesque fellow, isn't he?
Round the Wonderful World
G. E. Mitton
Grief and rage convulsed the fierce face of the wounded Lascar.
The Haunters of the Silences
Charles G. D. Roberts
A Lascar sailor, who was living with the savages, acted as interpreter.
The Long White Cloud
William Pember Reeves
He has crept out of the Lascar's attic, and he saw the light.
A Little Princess
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Here is a Lascar ashore from the big steamer that is to start for Alexandria on the morrow.
Sunrise
William Black

British Dictionary definitions for lascar

lascar

noun

a sailor from the East Indies

Word Origin for lascar

C17: from Urdu lashkar soldier, from Persian: the army

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 lascar

East Indian sailor, 1620s, from Portuguese lachar, from Hindi lashkari "soldier, native sailor," from lashkar "army, camp," from Persian lashkar. Cf. Arabic al-'askar "the army," perhaps from Persian.