spahi
Americannoun
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one of a body of Algerian cavalry in the French service.
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(formerly) a cavalryman in the Turkish army.
noun
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(formerly) an irregular cavalryman in the Turkish armed forces
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a member of a body of native Algerian cavalrymen in the French armed forces: disbanded after Algerian independence
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of spahi
First recorded in 1555–65; from Middle French, from Turkish sipahi, from Persian sipāhī; cf. sepoy
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.
See Examples For:
"Go in," said the commandant, and the spahi opened the door.
From The Turquoise Cup, and, the Desert by Smith, Arthur Cosslett
As soon as Mole was mounted, the chief spahi gave the word, and the imposing cavalcade set off at a quick trot.
From Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks Book Number Fifteen in the Jack Harkaway Series by Hemyng, Bracebridge
My spahi, like me, was in range of the shadow, while the Arab lay snoring ten paces off in the full light of the moon.
From The International Monthly, Vol. II, No. I December 1, 1850 by Various
We venture to visit the sheikh, assured by our spahi guides that we shall be welcome.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 11, No. 25, April, 1873 by Various
I have already told you about young Morand, the spahi, and his cousin Geneviève.
From French and Oriental Love in a Harem by Avril, Paul
Massu moved in a rock-hard force of 20,000 green- and red-bereted paratroopers, legionnaires and spahis to take over the city of Algiers and its teeming Casbah.
From Time Magazine Archive
He stripped off his drab prison clothes, threw them into the water, donned a fresh uniform with the jaunty red cap of the Moroccan spahis.
From Time Magazine Archive
The spahis with the aid of the irregular janissaries must sustain the first shock of the enemy's cavalry, even if all are to perish in doing so.
From Pan Michael An Historical Novel of Poland, the Ukraine, and Turkey. by Sienkiewicz, Henryk
On the following day, the vizir himself arrived before Kamenyets at the head of a numerous army of spahis, janissaries, and the general militia from Asia.
From Pan Michael An Historical Novel of Poland, the Ukraine, and Turkey. by Sienkiewicz, Henryk
We were a couple of friends followed by eight spahis and four camels with their drivers.
From Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories by Hawthorne, Julian
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.
