Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or relating to Hesse or its inhabitants.
  • noun A native or inhabitant of Hesse.
  • noun A German mercenary in the British army in America during the Revolutionary War.
  • noun A mercenary soldier.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In mathematics, a functional determinant whose constituents are the second differential coefficients of a quantic, arranged in regular order.
  • Relating or pertaining to Hesse in Germany, or to the Hessians.
  • noun A native or an inhabitant of Hesse in Germany.
  • noun In the United States, as a term of reproach, a mercenary; a military or political hireling: from the employment of Hessian troops as mercenaries by the British government in the American revolution.
  • noun plural A kind of long boots originally worn by Hessian soldiers; Hessian boots.
  • noun plural A kind of coarse cloth, made of hemp, or, in modern times, of a mixture of hemp and jute, and used principally for bagging.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or relating to Hesse, in Germany, or to the Hessians.
  • adjective boot of a kind worn in England, in the early part of the nineteenth century, tasseled in front.
  • adjective a coarse hempen cloth for sacking.
  • adjective See under Crucible.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) a small dipterous fly or midge (Cecidomyia destructor). Its larvæ live between the base of the lower leaves and the stalk of wheat, and are very destructive to young wheat; -- so called from the erroneous idea that it was brought into America by the Hessian troops, during the Revolution.
  • noun A native or inhabitant of Hesse.
  • noun United States A mercenary or venal person.
  • noun See Hessian boots and cloth, under Hessian, a.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of, from or relating to Hesse in Germany.
  • proper noun A native or inhabitant of Hesse.
  • proper noun historical A mercenary soldier, especially a German one who fought with the British in the American Revolutionary War.
  • noun A boot with a low heel and semi-pointed toe, which became popular, initially among the military, in the 18th century.
  • noun chiefly UK Burlap, jute.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (19th century) a man's high tasseled boot

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Hesse + -ian

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