maquis
Americannoun
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the French underground movement, or Resistance, that combatted the Nazis in World War II.
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Also called maquisard. a member of this movement.
noun
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shrubby mostly evergreen vegetation found in coastal regions of the Mediterranean: includes myrtles, heaths, arbutus, cork oak, and ilex
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(often capital)
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the French underground movement that fought against the German occupying forces in World War II
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a member of this movement
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of maquis
1940–45; < French, special use of maquis, makis wild, bushy land < Italian (Corsican dial.) macchie (with French -is for -ie ), plural of macchia a thicket < Latin macula spot
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.
Vabre was a Protestant village with a Protestant maquis.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2021
The path was guarded at key points by the partisans, known as the maquis, after the French word for the southern scrubland where many such groups operated.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2021
Wild donkeys watched us impassively from the roadside; the surrounding meadows were dyed red and yellow where poppies and daisies rioted among maquis trees and gauzy tufts of wild fennel.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 13, 2015
Xieng Kho's garrison, dug in on a hillside above the village, consisted of 70 regulars of the royal Laotian army, 100 home guards and 25 counter-guerrillas who are called maquis by French-educated Laotians.
From Time Magazine Archive
"My future sister-in-law doesn't like the maquis," laughed Colomba.
From Colomba by Loyd, Lady Mary Sophia (Hely-Hutchinson)
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.
