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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
Paul Tassi, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2025
Those who scowled at such modest steps in programming are presumably hailing the Trump regime’s ugly crusade against D.E.I., which has broadened into an assault on decades of civil-rights progress.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025
Cindy Krischer Goodman, Orlando Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2025
Frank Bonanno’s latest puts an Italian spin on dumplings
Recipe: An Orange marmalade to make Paddington proud
Politics
DOGE notches courtroom wins as Elon Musk crusades to slash federal government
DOGE critics are failing to obtain temporary restraining orders.
—The Denver Post, 19 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Crusade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crusade. Accessed 12 Mar. 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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