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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.
Examples of crusade in a Sentence
Justin Worland, Time, 25 Apr. 2025
In the popular imagination, McCarthy’s crusade was halted at a particular moment in 1954, on live television, during the Army-McCarthy hearings.
—Kenneth Obel, Chicago Tribune, 23 Apr. 2025
Briah Lumpkins, Charlotte Observer, 9 Apr. 2025
His latest actions are simply the latest move in an anti-Department of Education crusade a century in the making.
—Austin Steelman / Made By History, TIME, 12 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crusade
Cite this Entry
“Crusade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crusade. Accessed 11 May. 2025.
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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