Etymology

janissary

ja·nis·sa·ry
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Today it means: An infantry soldier, often of European Christian background from the Balkans as well as Eastern Europe and forcibly converted to Islam, in a former elite Turkish (Ottoman) guard (disbanded in 1826). Full definition →

Italian giannizzaro ← Ottoman Turkish یڭیچری
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The story

  1. Ottoman Turkish · derived fromیڭیچری
  2. Italian · derived fromgiannizzaro
  3. English todayjanissary

] Etymology tree Proto-Turkic *yaŋï Old Anatolian Turkish یكی (yäŋi) Ottoman Turkish یكی (yeñi) Proto-Turkic *čerig Old Anatolian Turkish چری (čäri) Ottoman Turkish چری (çeri) Ottoman Turkish یكیچری (yeñiçeri)bor. Italian giannizzaroder. English janissary From Italian giannizzaro, possibly via Middle French ianissaire or Spanish jenízaro, from Ottoman Turkish یڭیچری (yeñiçeri) (whence Modern Turkish yeniçeri), from یڭی (yeñi, “new”) + چری (çeri, “soldier”). Compare Dutch janitsaar, German Janitschar. The word is attested from the early 16th century in English; the janissaries themselves date from the 14th century.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.