goumn.
1.
a. A group of North African tribesmen.
Categories »
b. A contingent of North African soldiers (in French service).
2. Such a tribesman or soldier.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > peoples of Africa > peoples of North Africa > [noun] > other peoples of North Africa
Tunisinec1670
Maghrebin1687
Maghribi1704
Tunisian1825
goum1845
Ouled Nail1846
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier by nationality > [noun] > African
askari1809
goum1845
war-boy1889
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > unit of army > [noun] > division > foreign
seraglio1600
banner1842
goum1845
ban1866
commando1899
1845 Times 5 Nov. 5/1 Bou Maza left his dead on the field of battle, and retreated with his goum, composed of about 300 cavalry, without counting a great number of infantry.
1846 Times 10 Mar. 6/3 Captain Ducrot, with his Goums and a squadron of Spahis, was the first to overtake the fugitives.
1859 F. C. L. Wraxall tr. J. E. Robert-Houdin Mem. II. vii. 185 The strange aspect the capital [of Algeria] assumed on the arrival of the goums of the Tell and the South.
1903 Daily Chron. 25 Feb. 9/2 Far more interesting,..was the fantasia of the Goums... The five hundred horsemen assembled at the top of the course.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 17 Mar. 5/1 The first section of the new goum from Algeria.
1946 E. Linklater Private Angelo x. 114 A wild and huge array of tribesmen from the Atlas mountains..known as Goums.
1961 B. Fergusson Watery Maze xii. 315 General Magnan, the French Commander, whose force comprised the 9th Colonial Division, 2,000 Moroccan goums and some French commandos.
1970 I. Origo Images & Shadows ix. 242 The Moroccan troops with the Fifth Army, the Goums, who had ransacked everything.
Derivatives
goumier n. /ɡumje/ a North African serving in a goum.
ΚΠ
1907 Westm. Gaz. 28 Aug. 5/1 The goumiers are paid for their services, and..pillaging is a crime which is severely punished.
1955 Times 3 May 8/2 A band of 60 Algerian rebels on Sunday night surprised a detachment of 21 goumiers, or native auxiliary troops, in a forest guard post.
1961 R. Maugham Slaves of Timbuktu 207 In the back were two Goumiers attached to the Commandant's staff and an African servant.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.1845