cipaye

French

Etymology

From Turkish sipahi, from Persian سپاهي (sipāhī) ‘horseman, soldier’ (> English sepoy), from سپاه (sipāh) ‘army’.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /si.paj/

• Audio

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Noun

cipaye m (plural cipayes)

1. a native Indian infantry soldier in a French colonial regiment prior to 1898, when they were disbanded and replaced by a locally recruited gendarmerie. Cipayes were the French equivalent of the Indian sepoys in British service

Related terms

• spahi m

Further reading

• “cipaye”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.