Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A member of a group of elite, highly loyal supporters.
  • noun A soldier in an elite Turkish guard organized in the 1300s and abolished in 1826.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Obsolete forms of janizary.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun See janizary.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An elite, highly loyal supporter.
  • noun A soldier in a former elite Turkish guard.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a loyal supporter
  • noun a Turkish soldier

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French janissaire, from Old French jehanicere, from Old Italian giannizero, from Ottoman Turkish yanī cheri, new army : yanī, new + cheri, special troops (from Middle Persian chērīh, bravery, victory, from chēr, brave, victorious).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French janissaire, from Italian gianizzero, from Turkish yeniçeri, from yeni ("new") + çeri ("army").

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Examples

  • Dynamo manages to get out of his jam, but the additional complications of a janissary of unknown morality who wants to kiss and/or kill him makes his life even more unusual.

    Hero History: Dynamo | Major Spoilers - Comic Book Reviews and News 2009

  • I have fished you out of the water, I have brought you to life again, you belong to me as the creature belongs to the creator, as the efrits of fairytales belong to the genii, as the janissary to the Sultan, as the soul to the body.

    Eve and David 2007

  • Loved Alejandro's work on the janissary outfits he and Achbar wore.

    lacuriosa Diary Entry lacuriosa 2007

  • It is some time ago since the wealthy Mahomet demanded in marriage the daughter of the janissary

    Candide 2007

  • I have fished you out of the water, I have brought you to life again, you belong to me as the creature belongs to the creator, as the efrits of fairytales belong to the genii, as the janissary to the Sultan, as the soul to the body.

    Eve and David 2007

  • The poor consul got a lamp for us with a bit of wax-candle, such as I wonder his means could afford; the shabby janissary marched ahead with his tin mace; the two laquais-de-place, that two of our company had hired, stepped forward, each with an old sabre, and we went clattering and stumbling down the streets of the town, in order to seize upon this cadi in his own divan.

    Notes of a Journey From Cornhill to Grand Cairo 2004

  • Kaliuns26 (Persian hookahs) and coffee by the servants, who made royal conges whenever they passed the great man; and more than once the janissary, in dignity of belt and crooked sabre, entered the court to quicken our awe.

    Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah 2003

  • Then by his favour, for you improved the occasion, you were allowed to spend the hours of darkness on a wooden bench, in the adjacent long gallery, together with certain little parasites, for which polite language has no name. 10 In the morning the janissary of your

    Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah 2003

  • Formerly, when a janissary was condemned to die, he was confined in this castle.

    Journal of a Visit to Constantinople and Some of the Greek Islands in the Spring and Summer of 1833 John Auldjo

  • _ -- This morning we took Mustapha, once the consul's janissary, and now his servant, as a guide to the curiosities on the other side of the water.

    Journal of a Visit to Constantinople and Some of the Greek Islands in the Spring and Summer of 1833 John Auldjo

Comments

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  • Alternate spelling: janizary. Usage and some interesting stuff on the page for devshurmeh. Signed, Too Lazy to Copy/Paste.

    February 19, 2008

  • Why stop with janissaries? You could have gangs of supporters for every month of the year. Junissaries. Julissaries. You get the picture.

    April 22, 2008

  • And then once all twelve gangs have come and gone, you could have an Anniverssary!

    April 22, 2008