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Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 17:26:00 -0700 (PDT)
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condottiere (kon-duh-TYAR-ee, -ay) noun

   1. A leader of a private band of mercenary soldiers in Italy, especially
      in the 14th and 15th centuries.

   2. Any mercenary; soldier of fortune.

[From Italian, equivalent to condotto, from Latin conductus hired man, past
participle of condicere to conduce + -iere, from Latin -arius -ary.]

   "Plenty of states are willing to supply condotierre for the Saudis."
   Y. Sadowski, Revolution, reform, or regression?, Brookings Review,
   Winter 90/91.

This week's theme: words from the Italian language.

.............................................................................
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cities, nor the crops - no, but the kind of man the country turns out. -Ralph
Waldo Emerson, essayist (1803-1882)

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/condottiere.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/condottiere.ram