Definitions

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

  • adjective Of or relating to Switzerland or its people or culture.
  • noun A native or inhabitant of Switzerland.
  • noun A person of Swiss ancestry.
  • noun A crisp, sheer cotton fabric used for curtains or light garments.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or belonging to Switzerland or the Swiss.
  • An imitation of this, made by machinery, which has to a great extent superseded the real needlework.
  • noun A native or an inhabitant of Switzerland, a republic of Europe, surrounded by France, Italy, and the Austrian and German empires.
  • noun A hireling soldier; more loosely, a hireling of any kind; a Switzer (which see).

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

  • noun A native or inhabitant of Switzerland; a Switzer; the people of Switzerland.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to Switzerland, or the people of Switzerland.

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

  • adjective Of, from, or pertaining to Switzerland or the Swiss people.
  • noun A person from Switzerland or of Swiss descent.

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

  • noun the natives or inhabitants of Switzerland
  • adjective of or relating to Switzerland or its people or culture

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French Suisse, from Middle High German Swīzer, from Swīz, Switzerland.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Adopted from Middle French Suisse in circa 1515, alongside the form Switzer directly loaned from German.

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Examples

  • CHRISTIAN FREI, SWISS FILMMAKER: As a Swiss filmmaker, I feel deeply ashamed because Mr. Polanski was supposed to be honored this evening.

    CNN Transcript Sep 28, 2009 2009

  • CHRISTIAN FREI, SWISS FILMMAKER: As a Swiss filmmaker, I feel deeply ashamed because Mr. Polanski was supposed to be honored this evening.

    CNN Transcript Sep 28, 2009 2009

  • CHRISTIAN FREI, SWISS FILMMAKER: As a Swiss filmmaker, I feel deeply ashamed, because Mr. Polanski was supposed to be honored this evening.

    CNN Transcript Sep 28, 2009 2009

  • The term "Swiss bank account" sounds straight out of Ludlum or Le Carre, but Romney's detractors see it more as another emblem of wealth and privilege.

    News - latimes.com By Ja 2012

  • If the phrase "Swiss cheese" still conjures the sort of holey slice that you put in a mousetrap, please treat yourself to a generous wedge of Montagne du Jura.

    SFGate: Don Asmussen: Bad Reporter Janet Fletcher 2011

  • Widmer-Schlumpf emphasized that Switzerland's decision was not based on a determination of Polanski's guilt or innocence but only on the validity of the extradition request presented by the United States and what she described as Swiss national interests.

    Roman Polanski freed after Swiss reject U.S. extradition request 2010

  • Widmer-Schlumpf emphasized that Switzerland's decision was not based on a determination of Polanski's guilt or innocence but only on the validity of the extradition request presented by the United States and what she described as Swiss national interests.

    Roman Polanski freed after Swiss reject U.S. extradition request 2010

  • Widmer-Schlumpf emphasized that Switzerland's decision was not based on a determination of Polanski's guilt or innocence but only on the validity of the extradition request presented by the United States and what she described as Swiss national interests.

    Roman Polanski freed after Swiss reject U.S. extradition request 2010

  • If there is still tissue, he can put it back together again using what he describes as a "Swiss roll technique".

    BBC News - Home 2011

  • Mr. Oschwald was giving a tour of what he called the Swiss Fort Knox, one of two former military bunkers in the bowels of the Alps that companies run by Mr. Oschwald and his business partner, Hanspeter Baumann, have leased from the Swiss military.

    NYT > Home Page By CHRISTOPHER SOLOMON 2011

Comments

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  • "...he was acquainted with all the places which were visited by strangers on their first arrival at Paris; and he knew to a liard what was commonly given to the Swiss of each remarkable hotel..."

    — Smollett, Peregrine Pickle

    Presumably in the sense of "hireling".

    February 17, 2022