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In 1095, when Palestinian lands were held by Muslims, Pope Urban II exhorted Christians to reclaim the Holy Sepulchre and other venerated sites. Those who responded wore crosses of cloth on their breasts to identify themselves as soldiers in Christ’s army. Medieval French words for such holy wars were croisement, croiserie, croisée, and croisade, all derivatives of crois, meaning “cross.” In the 18th century, long after the crusades themselves had ceased, English borrowed both French croisade and the Spanish cruzado (likewise formed from a word meaning “cross”), blending the two to produce crusade.
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Examples of crusade in a Sentence
Zachary Basu, Axios, 12 Oct. 2024
Their crusade through the suburbs of the city becomes a quest for love and friendship.
—Zac Ntim, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2024
Elizabeth Marshall / Made By History, TIME, 23 Oct. 2024
The league has been crusading for ways to make the play safer for years with a goal of reducing head injuries, but an all-time low 21.8% of kickoffs were returned last season.
—Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 9 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Crusade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crusade. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
crusade
1 of 2 noun
crusade
2 of 2 verbNoun
derived from early French croisade and Spanish cruzada, both meaning literally "an expedition of persons marked with or bearing the sign of the cross" and both derived from Latin cruc-, crux "cross" — related to cross
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