he word for today is…

dragoon (noun, verb):

noun
1 : a member of a European military unit formerly composed of heavily armed mounted troops
2 : cavalryman

verb
1 : to subjugate or persecute by harsh use of troops
2 : to force into submission or compliance especially by violent measures

Source : Merriam -Webster

Etymology : A dragoon was a mounted European infantryman of the 17th and 18th centuries armed with a firearm called by the same name. No arm-twisting should be needed to get you to believe that the firearm’s name, which came to English from French, is derived from its semblance to a fire-breathing dragon when fired. History has recorded the dragonish nature of the dragoons who persecuted the French Protestants in the 17th century during the reign of Louis XIV. The persecution by means of the dragoons led to the use of the word dragoon as a verb.

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David is a retired surgeon originally from London who came to New Zealand twenty-seven years ago after being delayed in Singapore for thirteen years on leaving the UK. He was coerced into studying Latin...