noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈkɒsˌæk/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈkɑsˌæk/
General-American:/ˈkɔsˌæk/
CMU ARPABET:K AO1 S AH0 K
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A member or descendant of an originally (semi-)nomadic population of Eastern Europe and the adjacent parts of Asia, formed in part of runaways from neighbouring countries, that eventually settled in parts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian tsarist Empire and constituted a military caste, particularly in areas now comprising southern Russia and Ukraine.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A member of a military unit (typically cavalry, originally recruited exclusively from the above).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A Ukrainian.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A mercenary, a violent thug: a regular or irregular soldier, police officer or security guard employed to persecute or oppress disfavoured groups, such as Jews or (striking) workers.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: derogatory
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
Alternative letter-case form of Cossack.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
a member of a Slavic people living in southern European Russia and Ukraine and adjacent parts of Asia and noted for their horsemanship and military skill; they formed an elite cavalry corps in czarist Russia
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: Slav
History
Etymology
From Middle French cosaque, from Middle Polish Kozak, from Middle Ukrainian коза́къ (kozák), from Kipchak *qazaq (whence Armeno-Kipchak խազախ (xazax)), from Old Turkic 𐰴𐰔𐰍𐰸 (*qazǧaq, “profiteer”), from 𐰴𐰔𐰍𐰣𐰢𐰴 (qazǧanmaq, “to acquire”), from 𐰴𐰔𐰢𐰴 (qazmaq, “to dig out”), from Proto-Turkic *kaŕ-. Doublet of Kazakh. First appears c. 1587 in the writings of George Turberville.
Across languages
Translations
101 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
kozak
— member of a population
Arabic:
قُوزَاق
(quzāq)
— member of a population
Armenian:
կազակ
(kazak)
— member of a population
Azerbaijani:
kazak
— member of a population
Belarusian:
каза́к
(kazák)
— member of a population
Belarusian:
каза́чка
(kazáčka)
— member of a population
Bulgarian:
каза́к
(kazák)
— member of a population
Bulgarian:
каза́чка
(kazáčka)
— member of a population
Buryat:
хасаг
(xasag)
— member of a population
Buryat:
хаһаг
(xahag)
— member of a population
Catalan:
cosac
— member of a population
Catalan:
cosaca
— member of a population
Chinese Mandarin:
哥薩克 /哥萨克
(gēsàkè)
— member of a population
Crimean Tatar:
qazaq
— member of a population
Czech:
kozák
— member of a population
Czech:
kozáčka
— member of a population
Danish:
kosak
— member of a population
Dutch:
Kozak
— member of a population
Esperanto:
kozako
— member of a population
Estonian:
kasakas
— member of a population
Finnish:
kasakka
— member of a population
French:
Cosaque
— member of a population
Georgian:
კაზაკი
(ḳazaḳi)
— member of a population
German:
Kosak
— member of a population
Greek:
Κοζάκος
(Kozákos)
— member of a population
Hebrew:
קוזאק
(kozak)
— member of a population
Hindi:
कोज़ाक
(kozāk)
— member of a population
Hindi:
कज़ाक
(kazāk)
— member of a population
Hindi:
कजाक
(kajāk)
— member of a population
Hungarian:
kozák
— member of a population
Icelandic:
kósakki
— member of a population
Italian:
cosacco
— member of a population
Japanese:
コサック
(kosakku)
— member of a population
Kalmyk:
хазг
(xazg)
— member of a population
Kazakh:
казак
(kazak)
— member of a population
Khamnigan Mongol:
хасаг
(xasag)
— member of a population
Korean:
카자크
(kajakeu)
— member of a population
Kyrgyz:
казак
(kazak)
— member of a population
Latvian:
kazaks
— member of a population
Lithuanian:
kazokas
— member of a population
Macedonian:
Козак
(Kozak)
— member of a population
Mongolian:
казак
(kazak)
— member of a population
Classical Mongolian:
ᠬᠠᠰᠠᠭ
(qasaɣ)
— member of a population
Norwegian Bokmål:
kosakk
— member of a population
Norwegian Nynorsk:
kosakk
— member of a population
Church Slavic:
коꙁакъ
(kozakŭ)
— member of a population
Old East Slavic:
козакъ
(kozakŭ)
— member of a population
Old Ruthenian:
козакъ
(kozak)
— member of a population
Ossetian:
хъазах
(qazax)
— member of a population
Persian:
قزاق
(qazzâq)
— member of a population
Polish:
Kozak
— member of a population
Polish:
Kozaczka
— member of a population
Portuguese:
cossaco
— member of a population
Punjabi:
ਕਸਾਕ
(kasāk)
— member of a population
Romanian:
cazac
— member of a population
Russian:
каза́к
(kazák)
— member of a population
Russian:
коза́к
(kozák)
— member of a population
Russian:
каза́чка
(kazáčka)
— member of a population
Serbo-Croatian:
Козак
— member of a population
Serbo-Croatian:
Kozak
— member of a population
Slovak:
kozák
— member of a population
Slovak:
kozáčka
— member of a population
Slovene:
kozak
— member of a population
Spanish:
cosaco
— member of a population
Swedish:
kosack
— member of a population
Tagalog:
Kosako
— member of a population
Tajik:
казак
(kazak)
— member of a population
Tatar:
казак
(qazaq)
— member of a population
Turkish:
kazak
— member of a population
Turkmen:
kazak
— member of a population
Ukrainian:
коза́к
(kozák)
— member of a population
Ukrainian:
коза́чка
(kozáčka)
— member of a population
Uzbek:
kazak
— member of a population
Vietnamese:
Cô-dắc
— member of a population
Welsh:
Cosac
— member of a population
Written Oirat:
ᡍᠠᠴᠠᡎ
(xazag)
— member of a population
Yiddish:
קאָזאַק
(kozak)
— member of a population
Armenian:
կազակ
(kazak)
— member of a Cossack military unit
Buryat:
хасаг
(xasag)
— member of a Cossack military unit
Buryat:
хаһаг
(xahag)
— member of a Cossack military unit
Catalan:
cosac
— member of a Cossack military unit
Catalan:
cosaca
— member of a Cossack military unit
Czech:
kozák
— member of a Cossack military unit
Esperanto:
kozako
— member of a Cossack military unit
Finnish:
kasakka
— member of a Cossack military unit
French:
cosaque
— member of a Cossack military unit
German:
Kosak
— member of a Cossack military unit
Hungarian:
kozák
— member of a Cossack military unit
Icelandic:
kósakki
— member of a Cossack military unit
Khamnigan Mongol:
хасаг
(xasag)
— member of a Cossack military unit
Classical Mongolian:
ᠬᠠᠰᠠᠭ
(qasaɣ)
— member of a Cossack military unit
Old Ruthenian:
козакъ
(kozak)
— member of a Cossack military unit
Persian:
قزاق
(qazzâq)
— member of a Cossack military unit
Polish:
kozak
— member of a Cossack military unit
Portuguese:
cossaco
— member of a Cossack military unit
Slovak:
kozák
— member of a Cossack military unit
Tagalog:
Kosako
— member of a Cossack military unit
Turkish:
kazak
— member of a Cossack military unit
Ukrainian:
коза́к
(kozák)
— member of a Cossack military unit
Yiddish:
קאָזאַק
(kozak)
— member of a Cossack military unit
Yiddish:
קאָזאַקן
(kozakn)
— member of a Cossack military unit
