gendarmerie

noun

gen·​dar·​mer·​ie zhän-ˈdär-mə-rē How to pronounce gendarmerie (audio)
jän-
variants or gendarmery
plural gendarmeries
: a body of gendarmes

Examples of gendarmerie in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But the driver sensed something wrong and brought him to the gendarmerie police. Nancy Ing, NBC News, 14 Dec. 2023 After a night at the gendarmerie, he was sent to a nearby prison that was notorious for overcrowding, drug use and suicide. Aurelien Breeden, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2023 In response to the growing threat of internal insurrection, King Boris III’s government deployed the gendarmerie to stamp out the partisan threat. Kristen Ghodsee, Foreign Affairs, 29 Apr. 2015 French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the bodies that investigate misconduct in the police and the gendarmerie had received 10 referrals related to the protests. Annabelle Timsit, Washington Post, 25 July 2023 More than 5,000 vehicles were burned, over 1,000 properties damaged or looted, and 250 police stations or gendarmeries attacked in scenes seemingly unmatched since a three-week-long uprising in 2005. Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 5 July 2023 The most recent government statistics available show that 17 people were killed after police and gendarmerie officers shot at them in 2021. Time, 29 June 2023 The older girl had been 5 when the two were taken away by the gendarmerie, and Fréderique’s memory was of a mother standing there motionless, with a blank expression on her face. Jocelyn C. Zuckerman, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Apr. 2023 According to local press groups, Niang is accused of reporting on a confidential document by the Senegalese gendarmerie about a high-profile investigation into Ousmane Sonko, the country’s main opposition leader and a likely candidate for its 2024 presidential election. Elian Peltier, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Jan. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gendarmerie.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French gendarmerie, from gendarme

First Known Use

1795, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gendarmerie was in 1795

Dictionary Entries Near gendarmerie

Cite this Entry

“Gendarmerie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gendarmerie. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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