mousquetaire means A musketeer, especially one of the French royal musketeers of the 17th and 18th centuries, famed for their daring and their fine clothing. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.
mousquetaire is pronounced /ˌmuːskɪˈtɛə(ɹ)/.
Why “mousquetaire” is a great word
MOUSQUETAİRE — [Noun] A French musketeer, especially one of the king’s elite guard in the 17th–18th centuries, or a later fashionable article (a glove, cuff, or cloak) mimicking their flamboyant style. From Middle French *mousquetaire*, from *mousquet* ("musket") + *-aire* (agent suffix). A doublet of 'musketeer'. First attested in English in the 16th century. Unlike "musketeer" (a generic soldier with a musket) or "soldier" (a broad, anonymous rank), *mousquetaire* evokes a specific nexus of lethal duty and lavish style. It is the glint of a swept-hilt rapier against a scarlet tabard, the precise cadence of boot heels on palace parquet, and the transformation of a martial title into the name for a woman’s fitted glove—an essence of martial elegance so potent it outlives its function, becoming pure, borrowed style.
noun
- A musketeer, especially one of the French royal musketeers of the 17th and 18th centuries, famed for their daring and their fine clothing.“[H]is adversary, swelling with rage, cocked his hat fiercely in his face, and fixing his hands in his sides, pronounced with the most imperious tone, “Heark ye, Mr. Round Periwig, you must know that I am a mousquetaire.””
- A mousquetaire cuff or mousquetaire glove, or other article of dress imagined to resemble those worn by the French mosquetaires.
- A woman's cloak trimmed with ribbons, with large buttons, fashionable in the mid-19th century.
- A broad turnover linen collar worn in the mid-19th century.