POILU

Poilu

Poilu is an informal term for a French World War I infantryman, meaning, literally, hairy one. The term came into popular usage in France during the era of Napoleon Bonaparte and his massive citizen armies, though the term grognard was also common. It is still widely used as a term of endearment for the French infantry of World War I. The word carries the sense of the infantryman's typically rustic, agricultural background. Beards and bushy moustaches were often worn.

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poilu

Noun

  1. A French infantryman during the First World War


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: poilu
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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