Cossack en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈkɑsˌæk/ (General-American)
- /ˈkɔsˌæk/ (General-American)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈkɒsˌæk/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From Middle French cosaque, from Middle Polish Kozak, from Middle Ukrainian коза́къ (kozák), from Kipchak *qazaq (whence Armeno-Kipchak խազախ (xazax)), from Old Turkic 𐰴𐰔𐰍𐰸 (*qazǧaq, “profiteer”), from 𐰴𐰔𐰍𐰣𐰢𐰴 (qazǧanmaq, “to acquire”), from 𐰴𐰔𐰢𐰴 (qazmaq, “to dig out”), from Proto-Turkic *kaŕ-. Doublet of Kazakh. First appears c. 1587 in the writings of George Turberville.
Meanings
- A member or descendant of an originally (semi-)nomadic population of Eastern Europe and the adjacent parts of Asia, formed in part of runaways from neighbouring countries, that eventually settled in parts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian tsarist Empire and constituted a military caste, particularly in areas now comprising southern Russia and Ukraine.
- A member of a military unit (typically cavalry, originally recruited exclusively from the above).
- (obsolete) A Ukrainian.
-
(derogatory) A mercenary, a violent thug: a regular or irregular soldier, police officer or security guard employed to persecute or oppress disfavoured groups, such as Jews or (striking) workers.
Capitalists want soldiers, marines, militia, cossacks, Pinkertons, "coal-and-iron police," and so forth - chiefly for THREE general purposes : FIRST : TO HOLD DOWN the wage-earners and force them to consent to produce a[…]
1910, George Ross Kirkpatrick, War -- what For?, page 40:Southern and eastern European miners and other workers popularly referred to these hated troops as "Cossacks" because they acted like the similarly repressive troops used by the czar against workers in Russia during the Revolution of 1905 and on other occasions. "
1906, Mildren Allen Beik, “Chapter 3: State Police Called in”, in Remembering the Strike for Union in 1906 in Windber, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection:... Pinkertons, Cossacks, militia, spies, etc., speaks well for the men who represent us? If they were not true to their men, would all these forces be arrayed against us? Sure not! Let the weak rail and the malicious slur; the[…]
1907, Our Journal, page 18:1865 The Coal and Iron Police are authorized by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to maintain order in the coal fields. The miners referred to these private policemen as "Cossacks" and "Yellow Dogs."
1865, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, “Interesting facts”, in A Brief History of Coal Mining, Reclamation and Regulation in Pennsylvania, archived from the original on 12 May 2006:It would be a physical impossibility to give in this article anything near a comprehensive account of the ramifications of this band of legalized ruffians[…] the Cossacks. […] The Pinkertons, with their gum-shoe methods, the Coal and Iron Police, the State Militia and State Constabulary, played an important part in these many industrial conflicts.
1916, United Mine Workers of America, United Mine Workers Journal, page 13:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cossacks | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| kozak | alternative | lexicographic | |
| cossack | alternative | lexicographic | |
| Kozak | alternative | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Deriveds
gussuk · Cossack Hetmanate · Cossackry · Cossack green · Cossack post · Cossackdom · decossackization · Cossack hat
Relateds
Translations (101)
el Κοζάκος (member of a population) · nn kosakk (member of a population) · bg каза́к (member of a population) · de Kosak (member of a Cossack military unit) · bua хаһаг (member of a Cossack military unit) · sv kosack (member of a population) · ky казак (member of a population) · fa قزاق (member of a population) · fr Cosaque (member of a population) · ru каза́к (member of a population) · ca cosaca (member of a Cossack military unit) · lt kazokas (member of a population) · sk kozák (member of a Cossack military unit) · mk Козак (member of a population) · xal хазг (member of a population) · bua хасаг (member of a population) · cmg ᠬᠠᠰᠠᠭ (member of a population) · bg каза́чка (member of a population) · bua хасаг (member of a Cossack military unit) · nb kosakk (member of a population) · os хъазах (member of a population) · hi कोज़ाक (member of a population) · yi קאָזאַקן (member of a Cossack military unit) · ro cazac (member of a population) · fi kasakka (member of a Cossack military unit) · tr kazak (member of a Cossack military unit) · hu kozák (member of a population) · ykh хасаг (member of a population) · is kósakki (member of a Cossack military unit) · az kazak (member of a population) · ca cosaca (member of a population) · pa ਕਸਾਕ (member of a population) · tg казак (member of a population) · cy Cosac (member of a population) · cs kozák (member of a Cossack military unit) · yi קאָזאַק (member of a Cossack military unit) · hy կազակ (member of a population) · hi कजाक (member of a population) · sl kozak (member of a population) · eo kozako (member of a population) · cs kozák (member of a population) · hy կազակ (member of a Cossack military unit) · be каза́чка (member of a population) · sk kozák (member of a population) · crh qazaq (member of a population) · tl Kosako (member of a Cossack military unit) · fr cosaque (member of a Cossack military unit) · tk kazak (member of a population) · ko 카자크 (member of a population) · sh Kozak (member of a population) · uk коза́к (member of a Cossack military unit) · pl kozak (member of a Cossack military unit) · ja コサック (member of a population) · orv козакъ (member of a population) · sh Козак (member of a population) · cmg ᠬᠠᠰᠠᠭ (member of a Cossack military unit) · xwo ᡍᠠᠴᠠᡎ (member of a population) · sq kozak (member of a population) · uz kazak (member of a population) · lv kazaks (member of a population) · he קוזאק (member of a population) · ca cosac (member of a population) · hu kozák (member of a Cossack military unit) · uk коза́чка (member of a population) · be каза́к (member of a population) · pt cossaco (member of a population) · ca cosac (member of a Cossack military unit) · nl Kozak (member of a population) · ru каза́чка (member of a population) · tt казак (member of a population) · uk коза́к (member of a population) · de Kosak (member of a population) · mn казак (member of a population) · es cosaco (member of a population) · eo kozako (member of a Cossack military unit) · ka კაზაკი (member of a population) · ru коза́к (member of a population) · cs kozáčka (member of a population) · pt cossaco (member of a Cossack military unit) · fi kasakka (member of a population) · tr kazak (member of a population) · cmn 哥薩克 /哥萨克 (member of a population) · vi Cô-dắc (member of a population) · zle-ort козакъ (member of a Cossack military unit) · ykh хасаг (member of a Cossack military unit) · da kosak (member of a population) · et kasakas (member of a population) · yi קאָזאַק (member of a population) · it cosacco (member of a population) · tl Kosako (member of a population) · fa قزاق (member of a Cossack military unit) · is kósakki (member of a population) · zle-ort козакъ (member of a population) · ar قُوزَاق (member of a population) · bua хаһаг (member of a population) · hi कज़ाक (member of a population) · pl Kozak (member of a population) · sk kozáčka (member of a population) · cu коꙁакъ (member of a population) · pl Kozaczka (member of a population) · kk казак (member of a population)