Spahi
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An Ottoman (Turkish empire) cavalryman, especially as recruited under a land-based system.
"2001, Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red, tr. Erdağ M Göknar I hear that the great Sadiki Bey illustrated a copy of Strange Creatures, commissioned by an Uzbek spahi cavalryman, for only forty gold pieces."
- 2 A soldier in a mainly Arab-recruited cavalry (originally horse, later light armored) regiment in French colonial service in (former/ in name still) Ottoman North African provinces.
"TARZAN’S first mission did not bid fair to be either exciting or vastly important. There was a certain lieutenant of spahis whom the government had reason to suspect of improper relations with a great European power."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"2001, Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red, tr. Erdağ M Göknar I hear that the great Sadiki Bey illustrated a copy of Strange Creatures, commissioned by an Uzbek spahi cavalryman, for only forty gold pieces."
Etymology
From French spahi, from Ottoman Turkish سپاهی (sipahi), from Classical Persian سِپَاهِی (sipāhī, “horseman, soldier”) (> sepoy), from سِپَاه (sipāh, “army”). Doublet of sepoy and sipahi.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.