Etymology

kavass

K5A1V4A1S1S1

Today it means: A Turkish armed policeman or courier Full definition →

Ottoman Turkish قواس ← Arabic قوّاس
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The story

  1. Arabic · derived fromقَوْس“bow”
  2. Arabic · derived fromقوّاس“archer”
  3. Ottoman Turkish · borrowed fromقواس“guard, sentry”
  4. English todaykavass

From Ottoman Turkish قواس (kavvas, “guard, sentry”), derived from Arabic قوّاس (qawwās, “archer”), from Arabic قَوْس (qaws, “bow”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.