The story
- Ottoman Turkish · borrowed fromدیوشیرمه
- English todaydevshirme
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish دیوشیرمه (devşirme, literally “collection, gathering”) (Turkish devşirme).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
devshirme
Today it means: Systematic collection of non-Muslim boys or young men from rural Christian populations of the Balkans, practiced by Ottomans; the boys were taken to Istanbul, converted to Islam and educated for military profession or religious disciplines. Full definition →
Ottoman Turkish دیوشیرمه