archer English · revision 39487

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1297, Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle|origins=la arcus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈɑː.t͡ʃəː/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈɑɹ.t͡ʃɚ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|archer]],^(AHD 2024)^(Skeat 1911) [[bor|xno|archer]], [[m|fro|archier]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la-lat|arcārius]], an alteration of [[m|la-lat|arcuārius|t=maker of bows]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[la|arcus|t=bow]].^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966) Hoad and Weekley treat the Latin form as reconstructed, [[la-vul|*arcārius]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Weekley 1921) Latin ''arcus'' is also the source of [[arc]] and [[arch]], and Ayto traces it to the same base as [[arrow]].^(Ayto 2005)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person who shoots with a bow and arrows, especially in war: 1297, in Robert of Gloucester's ''Chronicle''.^(OED 2026) The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1136–37.^(AND)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French ''archier'' meant both an archer and a maker of bows.^(Etymonline) In Middle English ''archer'' competed with [[bowman]] and other words for the same person.^(Etymonline) From the early 15th century it could also mean an arrow, a sense lost after 1634.^(OED 2026) The bowman of the zodiac, Sagittarius, has been the ''Archer'' since the late 16th century.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(AND) In the 17th century ''archer'' was a name for the bishop in chess.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) From 1834 it named a fish of south-east Asia that brings down insects by shooting drops of water at them, the [[archerfish]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Johnson (1755) defined an archer as one who shoots with a bow, or carries one in battle.^(Johnson 1755)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1136–37 – Anglo-Norman ''archer''.^(AND)

+ * 1297 – one who shoots with bow and arrows.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1425 – an arrow (obsolete by 1634).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1594 – the constellation Sagittarius.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1656 – the bishop in chess.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1834 – the archerfish.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who shoots with a [[bow]] and [[arrow]], especially one skilled in [[archery]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''the Archer'': the [[constellation]] and sign of the [[zodiac]] [[Sagittarius]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # An [[archerfish]].^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # (chess, obsolete) The [[bishop]].^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[archerfish]]

+ * [[archery]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[arc]]

+ * [[arch]]

+ * [[arrow]]

+ * [[bowman]]

+ * [[Sagittarius]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}