Noun
One of an active and hardy body of soldiers in the French service, originally Arabs, but now composed of Frenchmen who wear the Arab dress.
Hence, one of a body of soldiers who adopt the dress and drill of the Zouaves, as was done by a number of volunteer regiments in the army of the United States in the Civil War, 1861-65.
Source: Webster's dictionaryHowever, the Carlist Zouaves also wore a distinctive feature that differentiated them from existing zouave regiments elsewhere, in the form of a beret of Basque influence with a characteristic tassel. Source: Internet
In full dress these included black or white zouave style trousers, worn with white tunics and long flowing cloaks. Source: Internet
From March 1833 each zouave battalion was organised into ten companies, of which eight were Muslim Berbers and Arabs and two French. Source: Internet
General R. Hure, page 80 "L'Armee d'Afrique 1830-1962", Lavauzelle 1979 Some authors explain this by zouave influence rather than north African origin. Source: Internet
In addition, four mixed zouave and tirailleur regiments (régiments mixtes de zouaves et tirailleurs) were raised for the First World War, all of which were redesignated Algerian tirailleur regiments in 1918 or 1920. Source: Internet
In the 1870s, former Papal zouaves formed the cadre for a short-lived Spanish zouave unit. Source: Internet