English
lansquenet
Lansquenet comes from French lansquenet, and goes back to German Landsknecht.
- Germanc. 1650–presentLandsknecht
- Frenchc. 1600–presentlansquenet
- Englishearliest quotation 1782same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Germanc. 1650–presentLandsknecht
- Frenchc. 1600–presentlansquenet
- Englishearliest quotation 1782same form
Earliest quotation: 1782, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Dangerous Liaisons: “And so it was over the game of lansquenet…”
A compound of Lands ‘of the land’ + Knecht ‘servant’
Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‘land, heath’
Proto-Germanic *landą ‘land, area of ground’
Proto-West Germanic *land ‘land, area of ground’
Old High German lant ‘land’
Middle High German lant ‘land’
German Land ‘of the land’
Proto-West Germanic *kneht ‘youth, boy’
Old High German knëht
Middle High German knëht ‘a boy’
German Knecht ‘servant’
Every English word from German Landsknecht
Today it means
noun Any of a class of German mercenaries of the 15th and 16th centuries, most of whom were pikemen and foot soldiers.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / German Landsknecht / lansquenet