cadre

Meaning

Noun

• A frame or framework.
• The framework or skeleton upon which a new regiment is to be formed; the officers of a regiment forming the staff.
• The core of a managing group, or a member of such a group.
• A small group of people specially trained for a particular purpose or profession.

Origin

• Borrowed from French cadre, from Italian quadro ("framed painting, square"), from Latin quadrum, from quattuor. The American pronunciations in /eɪ/ may be due to a mistaken assumption that this word comes from Spanish or Italian, when in fact it is strictly French (the Spanish and Italian equivalents are respectively cuadro and quadro).