poilu

[ pwah-loo; French pwa-ly ]

noun,plural poi·lus

[pwah-looz; French pwa-ly]. /ˈpwɑ luz; French pwaˈlü/.

a French common soldier.

Origin of poilu

1910–15; <French, in earlier slang: tough individual, tough, brave, literally, hairy, haired; Middle French, Old French pelu (cf. plew) <Vulgar Latin *pilūtus, equivalent to Latin pil(us) hair + Vulgar Latin *-ūtus, for Latin -ātus-ate¹ (e>oi by influence of poil hair <Latin pilus)

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

How to use poilu in a sentence

For the poilus, coming home to find their women folks shabby, said it was gayer at the front.
Paris Vistas | Helen Davenport Gibbons
Ruth got over being worried by amatory bouts with the wounded poilus after a while.
Ruth Fielding In the Red Cross | Alice B. Emerson
Some of the convalescents would be removed as soon as possible so as to make room for newly wounded poilus.
Ruth Fielding In the Red Cross | Alice B. Emerson
And it was dull and dirty and gray and deserted, save for the strolling poilus.
Life in the War Zone | Gertrude Atherton
I love all Americans for what they are doing for our poor poilus.
Ruth Fielding In the Red Cross | Alice B. Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for poilu

poilu

/ (ˈpwɑːluː, French pwaly) /

noun

an infantryman in the French Army, esp one in the front lines in World War I

Origin of poilu

C20: from French, literally: hairy (that is, virile), from poil hair, from Latin pilus a hair

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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