Lascar (noun)
las-ker
An East Indian sailor
First recorded in 1620–30; from Portuguese, short for lasquarin “soldier,” from Urdu lashkarī, from Persian, equivalent to lashkar “army” + -ī a suffix indicating relationship or origin; lasquarin shows spontaneous nasalization that occurs in Portuguese, as also in sim “yes,” from Latin sīc ( Spanish sí, Italian sì, French si )
Example sentences
“The lascar shuffled along slowly, feeling the ship’s ropes with his feet..”
