janissary
ja·nis·sa·ry/ˈdʒanɪzəɹi/noun
janissary is spelled J-A-N-I-S-S-A-R-Y: 9 letters and 4 syllables (ja·nis·sa·ry). It appears about once in every 26 million words in written English, the 154,067th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, janissary means “An infantry soldier, often of European Christian background from the Balkans as well as Eastern Europe and forcibly converted to Islam, in a former…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of janissary is janissaries.
How many letters and syllables are in janissary?
| Letters | 9: J-A-N-I-S-S-A-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: ja·nis·sa·ry |
| In writing | about once in every 26 million words; the 154,067th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is janissary?
Janissary appears about once in every 26 million words in written English, the 154,067th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce janissary?
- UK /ˈdʒanɪzəɹi/
- UK /ˈja-/
- UK /-səɹi/
Janissary has 4 syllables, split ja·nis·sa·ry in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-janissary.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of janissary
- janissaries plural
- janisary
- janissar
- janizary
- janizar
- yenicheri
- yengicheri
- yenichery
- yengichery
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does janissary mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An infantry soldier, often of European Christian background from the Balkans as well as Eastern Europe and forcibly converted to Islam, in a former elite Turkish (Ottoman) guard (disbanded in 1826).
- 2
Any Turkish soldier, particularly one escorting a traveller.
- 3
An elite, highly loyal supporter.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Janissary in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense former Turkish soldier:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | janissaire |
| German | Janitschar |
| Portuguese | janíçaro |
| Spanish | jenízaro |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does janissary come from?
] From Italian giannizzaro, possibly via Middle French ianissaire or Spanish jenízaro, from Ottoman Turkish یڭیچری (yeñiçeri) (whence Modern Turkish yeniçeri), from یڭی (yeñi, “new”) + چری (çeri, “soldier”). Compare Dutch janitsaar, German Janitschar. The word is attested from the early 16th century in English; the janissaries themselves date from the 14th century.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).