vedette

or vi·dette

[ vi-det ]

/ vɪˈdɛt /

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noun History/Historical.

Also called vedette boat . a small naval launch used for scouting.

a mounted sentry in advance of the outposts of an army.

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Origin of vedette

First recorded in 1680–90; from French, from Italian vedetta “outlook where a sentinel is posted,” alteration of earlier veletta (of debated origin) by association with vedere “to see”; see -ette

Words nearby vedette

vedalia, Vedanta, V-E Day, Vedda, Veddoid, vedette, Vedic, vee, Veeck, veejay, veena

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

How to use vedette in a sentence

Before nightfall we had no vedettes, for we overlooked the river, and every man was a vedette, as it were.
Who Goes There?|Blackwood Ketcham Benson
How they crept up close to the fort and captured a vedette within two gun-shots of the gate.
Ben Comee|M. J. (Michael Joseph) Canavan
A vedette of cavalrymen acted as observers, defying fatigue, while patrol after patrol came through the fields of wheat and rye.
'Neath Verdun, August-October, 1914|Maurice Genevoix
The sergeant halted within a few paces of the vedette, while I received instructions.
Who Goes There?|Blackwood Ketcham Benson

I asked Allen to go back and leave his piece at the picket-line; while he was gone I spoke in whispers to the vedette.
Who Goes There?|Blackwood Ketcham Benson

British Dictionary definitions for vedette

vedette

/ (vɪˈdɛt) /

noun

Also called: vedette boat navy a small patrol vessel

Also called: vidette military a mounted sentry posted forward of a formation's position

Word Origin for vedette

C17: from French, from Italian vedetta (influenced by vedere to see), from earlier veletta, perhaps from Spanish vela watch, from velar to keep vigil, from Latin vigilāre

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