It is a French word that translates as "shooter, sniper". It was the name for a Gallic army advanced soldier, usually from his African colonies, during the 20th century. In addition to the classic Senegalese tirailleurs, there were also Algerians, Moroccans, Tunisians and even Vietnamese. The origin is in the marksmen of the avant-garde of the Napoleonic army, who fired badly, into the tuntún; and it's a puller variant that comes from tir ("shot, shot" ).