gendarme

noun

gen·​darme ˈzhän-ˌdärm How to pronounce gendarme (audio)
 also  ˈjän-
1
: a member of a body of soldiers especially in France serving as an armed police force for the maintenance of public order
2

Examples of gendarme in a Sentence

the senator reiterated his conviction that it is not the role of the United States to be a kind of global gendarme
Recent Examples on the Web At the gendarmes’ base, a laconic officer took down the details of the robbery, seemingly oblivious of a large butcher knife that lay on his desk, dripping blood. Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024 Willem De Schryver plays the young gendarme Jan Laureys, recruited by the American because of his history of drug abuse. Annika Pham, Variety, 26 Jan. 2024 There was no hope of our taking the trans-Mediterranean ferry, not without passports, but the gendarmes told us to check in every few days to see if our belongings had reappeared. Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024 The presence of police and gendarmes will be doubled: 70 police reservists will be added, along with soldiers from the Sentinelle force that combs French cities against terror attacks. Frances D'emilio, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Sep. 2023 But on the road later, the troupe’s little two-wagon convoy is halted by some gendarmes, who inform Lubo he has been conscripted in to the Swiss Army to guard their borders against probable German attack. Jessica Kiang, Variety, 7 Sep. 2023 Two helicopters patrolled the skies of the southern port city of Marseille on Saturday night, and gendarmes went equipped with an armored vehicle to support local security forces, the Bouches-du-Rhône police force said in a series of Twitter updates Sunday morning. Leila Sackur, NBC News, 2 July 2023 French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters that 45,000 police and gendarmes will again be mobilized Saturday evening. Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 1 July 2023 Soutien aux policiers, gendarmes et sapeurs-pompiers qui font face avec courage. Niha Masih, Washington Post, 29 June 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gendarme.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French, from Middle French, back-formation from gensdarmes, plural of gent d'armes, literally, armed people

First Known Use

1793, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of gendarme was in 1793

Dictionary Entries Near gendarme

Cite this Entry

“Gendarme.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gendarme. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

gendarme

noun
gen·​darme ˈzhän-ˌdärm How to pronounce gendarme (audio)
 also  ˈjän-
: a member of a police force especially in France
Etymology

from French gendarme "policeman," derived as a singular form from earlier gensdarmes, gent d'armes, literally, "armed people"

More from Merriam-Webster on gendarme

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!