Cossack

noun

Cos·​sack ˈkä-ˌsak How to pronounce Cossack (audio)
-sək
1
: a member of any of a number of autonomous communities drawn from various ethnic and linguistic groups (such as Slavs, Tatars, and Circassians) that formed in Ukraine, southern Russia, the Caucasus Mountains, and Siberia after about 1400 and that were completely incorporated into czarist Russia during the 18th and 19th centuries
2
: a mounted soldier serving in a unit drafted from Cossack communities

Examples of Cossack in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Two years later, they were attacked by Cossacks with whips and pepper spray at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Lincoln Anderson, New York Daily News, 2 Apr. 2025 After a series of unsuccessful Cossack uprisings against Poland, Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s rebellion of 1648 developed into a peasant war and national revolution, resulting in the creation of an autonomous Cossack polity in what is now central Ukraine. Karina Zaiets, USA TODAY, 13 Dec. 2013 Military setbacks forced Khmelnytsky to search for allies, and after the Pereyaslav Treaty of 1654, the Cossack lands became a protectorate of the Russian tsars. Karina Zaiets, USA TODAY, 13 Dec. 2013 Vani Subramanian India, 2025 Cossacks in Exile dir. Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Jan. 2025 His books include Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Human Origins and The Strange Case of the Rickety Cossack: And Other Cautionary Tales from Human Evolution. Ian Tattersall, The New York Review of Books, 28 Nov. 2024 His involvement made him, alternatively, friend and foe to an ascendant politician: Reza Shah Pahlavi (then known as Reza Khan), an officer in the Russian-style Persian Cossack Brigade. Francine Uenuma, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Sep. 2024 In a school classroom, pre-teens eagerly sing traditional Cossack victory anthems before an air-raid siren prompts them to relocate to a bunker where class continues as before — even the kids doing so with an unfazed efficiency that smacks of routine. Guy Lodge, Variety, 4 July 2024 Soldiers have been part of its process from the beginning, starting with the label: an ancient Ukrainian soldier — a Cossack — glaring over a handlebar mustache. Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times, 8 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Polish & Ukrainian kozak, of Turkic origin; akin to Volga Tatar kazak free person

First Known Use

1589, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of Cossack was in 1589

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Cite this Entry

“Cossack.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Cossack. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.

Kids Definition

Cossack

noun
Cos·​sack ˈkäs-ˌak How to pronounce Cossack (audio)
-ək
1
: a member of any of the groups that formed in Ukraine, southern Russia, the Caucasus, and Siberia after 1400 and were included in czarist Russia during the 18th and 19th centuries
2
: a mounted soldier serving in a unit drafted from Cossack communities

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