pandour

[ pan-door ]

noun

History/Historical. a member of a local militia in Croatia, formed as a regiment in the Austrian army in the 18th century and noted for its ruthlessness and cruelty.
a brutal, marauding soldier.

Origin of pandour

1740–50; <French pandour(e) ≪ Serbo-Croatian pàndūr community or city policeman, pandour, probably <Hungarian pandúr<Slavic *pǫdarĭ (>Serbo-Croatian pùdār one who guards a vineyard), derivative of *pǫditi to drive off, frighten; the Serbo-Croatian variant bàndūr (17th century) may result from crossing with Medieval Latin banderia or Italian bandiera troop, literally, banner

Words Nearby pandour

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pandour in a sentence

Except with his pandour people, working what mischief they can, Neipperg does nothing.
History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XII. (of XXI.) | Thomas Carlyle
Diligently scanning the pandour stragglings and sputterings round him, which are clearly on the increasing hand.
History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XVIII. (of XXI.) | Thomas Carlyle
The points of inrush, the tideways of these pandour Deluges seem to be mainly three.
History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XV. (of XXI.) | Thomas Carlyle
A scaffold was standing in the court, with two dead bodies in the pandour uniform lying upon it.
Tales from Blackwood | Various
Bancaleone had left the room; but an attendant opened the door, saying that a pandour had brought a despatch for his Majesty.
Tales from Blackwood | Various

British Dictionary definitions for pandour

pandour

/ (ˈpændʊə) /

noun

one of an 18th-century force of Croatian soldiers in the Austrian service, notorious for their brutality

Origin of pandour

C18: via French from Hungarian pandur, from Croat: guard, probably from Medieval Latin banderius summoner, from bannum ban 1

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

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