Etymology

bashi-bazouk

ba·shi-ba·zouk

Today it means: An irregular soldier of the Ottoman army, reputed to be brutal and undisciplined. Full definition →

Ottoman Turkish باشی بوزوق
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The story

  1. Ottoman Turkish · borrowed fromباشی بوزوق“civilian; irregular soldier”
  2. English todaybashi-bazouk

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish باشی بوزوق (başıbozuk, “civilian; irregular soldier”, literally “broken head”) (whence modern Turkish başıbozuk; possibly alluding to the soldiers being effectively leaderless, or to them acting “crazy”), from باشی (possessive of باش (baş, “head”)) + بوزوق (bozuk, “broken; in poor condition”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.