Cossack
nounUK /ˈkɒsˌæk/ · US /ˈkɑsˌæk/
Etymology From Middle French cosaque, from Middle Polish Kozak, from Middle Ukrainian коза́къ (kozák), from Kipchak *qazaq (whence Armeno-Kipchak խազախ (xazax)), from Old Turkic 𐰴𐰔𐰍𐰸 (*qazǧaq, “profiteer”), from 𐰴𐰔𐰍𐰣𐰢𐰴 (qazǧanmaq, “to acquire”), from 𐰴𐰔𐰢𐰴 (qazmaq, “to dig out”), from Proto-Turkic *kaŕ-. Doublet of Kazakh. First appears c. 1587 in the writings of George Turberville.
A member or descendant of an originally (semi-)nomadic population of Eastern Europe and the adjacent parts of Asia, formed in part of runaways from neighbouring countries, that eventually settled in parts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian tsarist Empire and constituted a military caste, particularly in areas now comprising southern Russia and Ukraine.
A member of a military unit (typically cavalry, originally recruited exclusively from the above).
Obsolete A Ukrainian.
Derogatory A mercenary, a violent thug: a regular or irregular soldier, police officer or security guard employed to persecute or oppress disfavoured groups, such as Jews or (striking) workers.
- 1865 The Coal and Iron Police are authorized by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to maintain order in the coal fields. The miners referred to these private policemen as "Cossacks" and "Yellow Dogs."1865, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, “Interesting facts”, in A Brief History of Coal Mining, Reclamation and Regulation in Pennsylvania, archived from the original on 12 May 2006:
- Southern and eastern European miners and other workers popularly referred to these hated troops as "Cossacks" because they acted like the similarly repressive troops used by the czar against workers in Russia during the Revolution of 1905 and on other occasions. "1906, Mildren Allen Beik, “Chapter 3: State Police Called in”, in Remembering the Strike for Union in 1906 in Windber, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection:
3 more examples
- ... Pinkertons, Cossacks, militia, spies, etc., speaks well for the men who represent us? If they were not true to their men, would all these forces be arrayed against us? Sure not! Let the weak rail and the malicious slur; the[…]1907, Our Journal, page 18:
- Capitalists want soldiers, marines, militia, cossacks, Pinkertons, "coal-and-iron police," and so forth - chiefly for THREE general purposes : FIRST : TO HOLD DOWN the wage-earners and force them to consent to produce a[…]1910, George Ross Kirkpatrick, War -- what For?, page 40:
- It would be a physical impossibility to give in this article anything near a comprehensive account of the ramifications of this band of legalized ruffians[…] the Cossacks. […] The Pinkertons, with their gum-shoe methods, the Coal and Iron Police, the State Militia and State Constabulary, played an important part in these many industrial conflicts.1916, United Mine Workers of America, United Mine Workers Journal, page 13:
- Derived terms
- Cossackdom, Cossack green, Cossack hat, Cossack Hetmanate, Cossack post, Cossackry, decossackization, gussuk
- Related terms
- Kazakh, Kazakhstan