Etymology

maréchaussée

Today it means: A type of guard force in France, French colonies, or sometimes by extension other places, commanded by a marshal (formerly used as a police force before the introduction of the gendarmerie); loosely (chiefly humorous), the police, the constabulary. Full definition →

First used 18th c.French maréchaussée
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The story

  1. French · borrowed frommaréchaussée
  2. English todaymaréchaussée

From French maréchaussée. Doublet of marshalcy.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 18th c. A type of guard force in France, French colonies, or sometimes by extension other places, commanded by a marshal (formerly used as a police force before the introduction of the gendarmerie); loosely (chiefly humorous), the police, the constabulary.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.