crusade
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
crusade¹
- /kɹuːˈseɪd/ UK
- /kɹuˈseɪd/ Canada, US
- /kɹʉːˈsæɪd/ Australia, New Zealand
Rhymes with -eɪd
Where it comes from
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.
noun crusades · Crusade
- 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. During the crusades, many Muslims and Christians and Jews were slaughtered.
- 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 crusade against drug abuse
- A mass gathering in a political campaign or during a religious revival effort. The same period that has seen social and political crusades increasingly replace religious messages in the pulpits has seen a sharp 35 percent decline in membership of the mainline Protestant denominations associated with the National Council of Churches.
- A Portuguese coin; a crusado.
verb crusades · crusading · crusaded · Crusade
- To go on a military crusade.
- To make a grand concerted effort toward some purportedly worthy cause. He crusaded against similar injustices for the rest of his life.
Crusade²
- /kɹuːˈseɪd/
- /kɹuˈseɪd/ Canada, US
- /kɹʉːˈsæɪd/ Australia, New Zealand
Rhymes with -eɪd
Where it comes from
Capitalised by Mills, The History of the Crusades (1820) when referring to a specific campaign ("The third and fourth Crusades" p. 95) but not when
referring to the general concept ("the clergy successfully preached the crusade through all the German state" p. 87). More at crusade.
noun Crusades
- Any of a series of religious campaigns by Christian forces from the 11th to the 13th century, mostly to capture the Holy Land from the Muslims and Jews who inhabited it.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: campaign, cause, movement, drive, push, effort, fight, agitate, baptist, crossover, cross, quest, struggle, offensive, batiste, baptiste
Translations
Every language
noun military expedition
| Español | cruzada |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 십자군 sipjagun, 십자군전쟁 sipjagunjeonjaeng |
| 中文 | 十字軍東征 /十字军东征 Shízìjūn Dōngzhēng |
| Português | cruzada |
| Français | croisade |
| Deutsch | Kreuzzug |
| Italiano | crociata |
| Română | cruciadă |
| Русский | кресто́вый похо́д krestóvyj poxód |
| العربية | حَمْلَة صَلِيبِيَّة ḥamla ṣalībiyya |
| עברית | מַסַּע צְלָב masá tslav |
noun grand concerted effort
| Español | cruzada |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 십자군 sipjagun |
| 日本語 | 十字軍 jūjigun |
| 中文 | 十字軍 /十字军 shízìjūn |
| Português | cruzada |
| Français | croisade |
| Deutsch | Kreuzzug, Feldzug |
| Italiano | crociata |
| Ελληνικά | σταυροφορία stavroforía |
| Română | cruciadă |
| Русский | кресто́вый похо́д krestóvyj poxód |
| العربية | حَرْب صَلِيبِيَّة ḥarb ṣalībiyya |
noun campaigns by Christian forces to the Holy Land
| Español | cruzada |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 십자군 전쟁 sipjagun jeonjaeng, 십자군 sipjagun |
| 日本語 | 十字軍 jūjigun |
| 中文 | 十字軍東征 /十字军东征 Shízìjūn Dōngzhēng |
| हिन्दी | क्रूसयुद्ध krūsyuddh |
| Português | cruzada |
| Français | croisade |
| Deutsch | Kreuzzug |
| Italiano | crociata |
| Ελληνικά | σταυροφορία stavroforía |
| Română | cruciadă |
| Русский | кресто́вый похо́д krestóvyj poxód |
| Tiếng Việt | Thập tự chinh |
| العربية | حَمْلَة صَلِيبِيَّة ḥamla ṣalībiyya |
| עברית | מסע צלב masá tzlav |
Talk about this word "crusade." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/crusade. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. crusade. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/crusade "crusade." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/crusade.Cite this
@misc{crusade_2026,
title = {crusade},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/crusade},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
