crusade
Plural: crusades
Noun
- a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end
- any of the more or less continuous military expeditions in the 11th to 13th centuries when Christian powers of Europe tried to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims
- Any of the Papally-endorsed military expeditions undertaken by the Christians of Latin Europe in the 11th to 13th centuries to reconquer the Levant from the Muslims, as well as expeditions along the Baltic Sea and against the Cathars.
- Any war instigated and blessed by the Church for alleged religious ends, (especially) papal-sanctioned military campaigns against infidels or heretics.
- A grand, concerted effort towards some purportedly worthy cause.
- A mass gathering in a political campaign or during a religious revival effort.
- A Portuguese coin; a crusado.
Verb
Verb Forms: crusaded, crusading, crusades
- To engage in a vigorous campaign for a cause or belief.
- exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or person; be an advocate for
- go on a crusade; fight a holy war
- To go on a military crusade.
- To make a grand concerted effort toward some purportedly worthy cause.
Examples
- a crusade against drug abuse
- During the crusades, many Muslims and Christians and Jews were slaughtered.
- He crusaded against similar injustices for the rest of his life.
- She began to CRUSADE against illegal word challenges in their Words With Friends group.
Origin / Etymology
From French croisade, introduced into English (in the French spelling) by 1575. The modern spelling emerges c. 1760,. Middle French croisade is introduced in the 15th century, based on Spanish cruzada (late 14th century) and Old Occitan crozada (early 13th century), both reflecting Medieval Latin cruciāta, cruxiata, the feminine singular of the adjective cruciātus used as an abstract noun.
Adjectival cruciātus originally meant "tormented; crucified", but from the 12th century crucesignatus was also used for "marked with a cross; making the sign of the cross" and eventually "taking the cross" in the sense of "going on a crusade".
Old Occitan crozada is used in the sense "[the Albigensian] crusade" in the Song of the Albigensian crusade, written c. 1213. From vernacular usage, Middle Latin cruciāta also comes to be used in the sense "crusade" from about 1270.
Scrabble Score: 10
crusade: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordcrusade: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
crusade: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary