WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -A mercenary is a soldier who is paid to fight by a country or group that they do not belong to. If you describe someone as mercenary, you are criticizing them because you think that they are only interested in the money that they can get from a particular person or situation.

Detailed explanation-2: -mercenaries; mercenarily You might not want to call a mercenary a “hireling” to his face, but a mercenary is, after all, a soldier who gets paid to fight where needed, sometimes taking a heroic stand and other times just wanting payment for fighting.

Detailed explanation-3: -mercenary, hired professional soldier who fights for any state or nation without regard to political interests or issues. From the earliest days of organized warfare until the development of political standing armies in the mid-17th century, governments frequently supplemented their military forces with mercenaries.

Detailed explanation-4: -A free company (sometimes called a great company or grande compagnie) was an army of mercenaries between the 12th and 14th centuries recruited by private employers during wars. They acted independently of any government, and were thus “free".

Detailed explanation-5: -A “mercenary” is a person who takes a direct part in hostilities motivated essentially by the desire for private gain. ⇒ A captured mercenary is not a prisoner of war.