mercenary soldier; hired soldier
Refers to a soldier hired to fight for a foreign army or private group, often for money rather than loyalty.
In medieval warfare, mercenary soldiers were often used.
He fought overseas as a mercenary.
Standard kanji spelling for 'mercenary soldier'.
Variant using the more common 雇 kanji for 'hire'; less frequent but understandable.
Mixed kana-kanji spelling sometimes seen in modern texts.
Compound of 傭い (yatoi, 'hiring', from verb 雇う) and 兵 (hei, 'soldier'). The kanji 傭 is a less common variant of 雇, both meaning 'employ' or 'hire'.