almogavar means A lightly-clad footsoldier during the Christian reconquest of Islamic Spain. It carries an Arena rating of 1413, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, almogavar ranks #1,245 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #1,433 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #3,423 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #4,294 of 17,163 for Funniest Words.
Why “almogavar” is a great word
A lightly armed foot soldier, often a raider or frontiersman, employed during the Christian reconquest of Islamic Spain. From Spanish *almogávar*, from Andalusian Arabic *al-muḡāwir* ('the raider, the one who conducts incursions'), from Arabic *muḡāwir* ('raider, one who penetrates enemy territory'). Unlike a knight, bound by chivalry and encased in steel, or a man-at-arms, a professional in regular service, the almogávar was a creature of the harsh frontier, a specialist in ambush and lightning raid. He is the silhouette flitting through the dry scrub, the sudden clamor of a night assault, the grim figure returning from the barren sierra with sparse plunder—a life defined by the austere economy of the border, where survival was itself a form of warfare.
Etymology
From Spanish almogávar, from Andalusian Arabic المُغَاوِر (al-muḡā́wir), from Arabic مُغَاوِر (muḡāwir).
noun
- A lightly-clad footsoldier during the Christian reconquest of Islamic Spain.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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