chawush

cha·wush
C3H4A1W4U1S1H4
/t͡ʃɑˈwʊʃ/

A form of chiaus — An Ottoman Empire court official; an attendant, messenger, herald, interpreter.

First used 19th–20th c.Scrabble 18

Meanings

chawush1

nounchawush (plural chawushes)

plural chawushes

  1. archaichistoricalArchaic spelling of chiaus.First known use 19th–20th c.

    The chawush, or sergeant, who had charge of these executions, generally turned them to his profit:[…]

    1878 April 11, Gilbert Kirker, “Notes on Adrianople and Constantinople”, in Proceedings of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, Belfast: Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, →ISSN, page 103

Chawush2

nounChawush (plural Chawushes)

plural Chawushes

  1. archaichistoricalAlternative letter-case form of chawush (“chiaus”).
    1 more example

    He carried on a long conversation with the dragoman in Turkish, the upshot of which was that he would give me a "buyuruldu" or special order to go to Sivas, and would provide an escort if the British Consul would send a written guarantee that I was a bona fide traveller. We thanked the Vali for the concession, and took our leave, […] He wrote the required guarantee, and a Chawush, or sergeant of Zaptiehs, was told off to accompany me to Sivas.¶ Sivas is in another province, not under Memdouch Pasha's rule, and as the Vali there was on bad terms with him, it was more than likely that he would send me back in spite of the buyuruldu. The Chawush was sent with me, possibly to make sure that I was neither an agitator nor a newspaper correspondent, but I paid him well and he proved of great use to me.

    1897, Charles Clive Bigham Mersey, A ride through western Asia, London, New York: Macmillan, →OCLC, page 18

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

chawush. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chawush

MLA

“chawush.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chawush. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chawush,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chawush.

Source: chawush on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.