Etymology

cannon fodder

Today it means: Military forces considered to be expendable. Full definition →

German Kanonenfutter ← English food for powder
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The story

  1. English · derived fromfood for powder
  2. German · calque ofKanonenfutter
  3. English todaycannon fodder

Mid-19th century, from cannon (“artillery piece”) + fodder (“food”), a calque of German Kanonenfutter, itself possibly a calque of English food for powder. See the German for more.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.