Dictionary

lansquenet en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌlænskəˈnɛt/ (US)
• /ˈlɑːnskəˌnɛt/ (UK)
• /ˈlanskəˌnɛt/ (UK)

Etymology

Borrowed from French lansquenet, from German Landsknecht, from Lands (“of the land”) + Knecht (“servant”). Doublet of Landsknecht.

Meanings

1. (countable, historical) Any of a class of German mercenaries of the 15th and 16th centuries, most of whom were pikemen and foot soldiers.
   • […] arising out of this festival there was established an individual lansquenet tradition, in speech and outward appearance, and the bare, sunburnt necks of the vagabond soldiers, their baggy garments hanging in shreds, and their short swords, could be seen all over the country for long afterwards. 1855, Gottfried Keller, translated by A.M. Holt, Green Henry, Calder Publications, published 1960, page 440:
   • I have never really been outdoorsy enough to make a mercenary landsknecht, although their immense two-handed swords, flowing moustaches and puffed-silk slashed sleeves take some beating. 2013, Simon Winder, Danubia, Picador, published 2014, page 55:
   • Ruthless killing, wanton strife / Add up to a lanzknecht’s life. 1999, HJC von Grimmelshausen, translated by Mike Mitchell, Simplicissimus, Dedalus, published 2016, page 52:
2. (uncountable) A gambling card game in which the dealer is given an initial card and the players another; cards are then turned up until the value (rank) of one of those cards is met.
   • “I'm through with all pawn-games,” I laughed. “Come, let us have a game of lansquenet. Either I will take a farewell fall out of you or you will have your sevenfold revenge”. 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
   • And so it was over the game of lansquenet that I scored my first triumph. 1782, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, translated by Helen Constantine, Dangerous Liaisons, published 2007, page 196:
   • One could see part of the dimly lit court where under an enclosed poplar two soldiers on a stone bench were playing lansquenet. 1962, Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire:

Forms

Synonyms

skin the lamb

Translations (41)

he לָאנְדְסְקְנֶכְט (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · da landsknægt (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · de Landsknecht (gambling card game) · fr lansquenet (gambling card game) · vi lencơnet (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · nl lansknecht (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · fa نبردپیشه (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · no landsknekt (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · ru ландскне́хт (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · pl lancknecht (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · pt lansquené (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · de Lansquenet (gambling card game) · fr lansquenet (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · pl landsknecht (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · sh ландскнехт (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · el Λάντσκνεχτ (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · it zecchinetto (gambling card game) · ca lansquenet (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · it lanzichenecco (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · la Landsknectus (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · pt lansquenete (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · fi landsknecht (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · sv landsknekt (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · ka ლანდსკნეხტი (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · cmn 國土傭僕 /国土佣仆 (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · pl lancknecht (gambling card game) · nl landsknecht (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · ko 란츠크네히트 (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · uz landsknext (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · pt lansquenê (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · ar لَانْدْسْكْنِيشْت (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · es lansquenete (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · it lanzichenecco (gambling card game) · cs lancknecht (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · ja ランツクネヒト (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · sh landsknext (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · lt landsknechtas (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · fy lânsfeint (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · fi lansquenet (gambling card game) · de Landsknecht (German mercenary of the 15th or 16th century) · it zecchinetta (gambling card game)