Definition of: Zouave

(z·äv′, zwäv) noun
1. A light-armed French infantryman wearing a brillant Oriental uniform, originally an Algerian recruit.
2. In the Civil War, a member of a volunteer regiment assuming the name and part of the dress of the French Zouaves.
3. A woman's short, gaily embroidered jacket: also Zouave jacket. [<F <Arabic Zouaoua, a Kabyle tribe; so called because orig. recruited from this tribe]