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condottiere (kon-duh-TYAR-ee, -ay) noun
1. A leader of a private band of mercenary soldiers in Italy, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries. 2. Any mercenary; soldier of fortune. [From Italian, equivalent to condotto, from Latin conductus hired man, past participle of condicere to conduce + -iere, from Latin -arius -ary.] "Plenty of states are willing to supply condotierre for the Saudis." Y. Sadowski, Revolution, reform, or regression?, Brookings Review, Winter 90/91. This week's theme: words from the Italian language. ............................................................................. The true test of a civilization is, not the census, nor the size of the cities, nor the crops - no, but the kind of man the country turns out. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist (1803-1882) What to give to the person who has everything? Give the gift of words. Here is a gift that keeps on giving. To enter a gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day, please visit http://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html To subscribe yourself, use http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscribe.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/condottiere.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/condottiere.ram
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