archer
(ˈɑːtʃə(r))
Forms: 4 archeer, archar, 4–5 archere, archier, 4– archer.
[a. AFr. archer, OF. archier:— L. arcāri-um, f. arcus bow.]
1. One who shoots with bow and arrows, esp. one who uses them in war; a bowman. Also fig.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 199 Archers and vot men. 1375 Barbour Bruce ix. 151 Thair archaris furth to thame thai send. c 1465 Chevy Chase 103 Of xv C archars of ynglonde went a-way but vijx & thre. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 89 An archier to faile of the butte is no wonder. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, v. iii. 339 Draw, Archers, draw your Arrowes to the head. 1599 ― Much Ado ii. i. 401 If wee can doe this, Cupid is no longer an Archer. 1670 Cotton Espernon i. ii. 53 The Payment of the Grand Provost, and his Archers. 1808 Scott Marm. v. xvii, But Nottingham has archers good, And Yorkshire men are stern of mood. |
b. attrib., as in archer-craft, archer-god, archer-queen, archer-rank.
| 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles vi. xxiii, They rush'd among the archer-ranks. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. i. I. 73 Little could avail Their archer craft. 1870 Bryant Homer i. I. 2 Apollo, archer-god. |
† 2. An arrow. (Perh. by confusion: cf. arbalester.)
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 4191 Springolds, gonnes, bowes, and archers. 1634 Malory's Arthur (1816) I. 91 One of them, with a bow and archer, smote sir Gawaine. |
† 3. Old name of the bishop in chess. Obs.
| 1656 F. Beale Chesse-play 2 A Bishop, or Archer, who is commonly figured with his head cloven. |
4. The ninth zodiacal constellation, Sagittarius.
| 1594 Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. xxiv. 329 Sagittarius, that is to say, the Archer..hath his head towards the North. 1742 Young Nt. Th. v. 1022 Near heav'n's archer, in the zodiac, hung. 1868 Lockyer Heavens (ed. 3) 328 Then partly in the Milky Way, the Archer. |
5. Ichthyol. A fish (Toxotes jaculator Cuvier), found in Java and Sumatra, which has the power of shooting a drop of water at insects that rest near.
| 1834 Penny Cycl. II. 272/2 The drop seldom fails to hit the mark and precipitate the insect into the water, where it is, of course, within reach of the archer. 1847 Nat. Encycl. II. 14/2 The archer..is of a yellowish colour, marked in the back with five brown spots. |
† 6. water archer: obs. name of the Arrowhead (Sagittaria sagittifolia).
| 1617 Minsheu Ductor 493 Water Archer, or Arrowhead..because it is good to pull out arrows. 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (ed. Morell), Water archer, Sagittaria. |