Forms: 3–4 werreour, worreour, 4 weorriour, werraiur, werrayure, werreyoure, 4–5 werrayour, werriour, worreor, 5 werryour, werryor, weryor, verriour, 6 Sc. weirreour, 5 warreyour, warryour, varioure, 6 warreoure, waryer, warryar, 6–7 warrier, 6–9 warriour, 6– warrior. [Early ME., a. north-eastern OF. werreieor, werrieur, etc. (= Central OF. guerreieor, guerrieur, guerroyeur, etc., mod.F. guerroyeur), agent-n. f. werreier (guerreier): see WARRAY v.
The synonymous F. guerrier (= Pr. guerrier, Sp. guerrero, Pg. guerreiro, It. guerriero, -ere) is a different formation. For the ME. weorreur, werreur, werour, -eur, verrour, see WARRER.]
† I. 1. One who makes war upon; a persecutor. (Cf. WARRAY v. 1 b, 2 b.) Obs.–1
a. 1300. Cursor M., 20933 (Edinb.). To þaim he [Paul] firste was werrayure, eftirward bicom prechure.
II. 2. One whose occupation is warfare; a fighting man, whether soldier, sailor, or (latterly) airman; in eulogistic sense, a valiant or an experienced man of war. Now chiefly poet. and rhetorical, exc. as applied to the fighting men of the ages celebrated in epic and romance and of uncivilized peoples, for whom the designation soldier would be inappropriate.
The word found a memorable application in the designation of ‘The Unknown Warrior,’ who on 11 Nov. 1920 was honored with a stately funeral in Westminster Abbey as the representative of all who had given their lives for England in the World War I. To which of the services he belonged was kept a secret, so that the comprehensive word ‘warrior’ was both necessary and felicitous.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 2164. Kniȝtes & oþer worreours, þat to þis londe wende. Ibid., 2548. Sende we ȝute after mi sones, octo, & ebyse, þat quointe werreours beþ, & stalwarde & wyse.
13[?]. K. Alis., 1458 (Laud MS.). He had of hem al þat he wolde, Steden, armes, siluer & golde, And many stronge werreyoure [v.r. weorriour].
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 2729. Donewal was werreour god. Ibid. (1338), Chron. (1810), 166. I haf kept thi lande, I se that dishonoure Is now the nerhand, thorgh this conquerour, That [is] an Inglis kyng, a wys werreour [Langtoft sage guerraiour].
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XX. 416. Than, as gud werriours, and wis, With thame stoutly assemblit he.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., II. 412. Petir was not heed of þe Chirche, but a capteyn of þe Chirche. And certis werriouris wolen scorne þis resoun, þat if a man be capteyn, he is heed. Ibid. (1388), Ecclus. xxvi. 28. A man a werriour [Vulg. vir bellator] failynge bi nedynesse.
1410. 26 Pol. Poems, ix. 138. Caste þe not to couetys, Ȝe þat ryȝtwys werryours be, But loke where riȝt qurrel lys.
1422. Yonge, trans. Secreta Secret., 155. Iulyus Cesar the forte werryor.
1448–9. Metham, Wks. (1916), 11. O Mars! cheuetyn off nobyl weryouris.
1456. Sir G. Haye, Law Arms (S.T.S.), 5. Men that wont was to be werreyouris to defend the kirk rycht.
a. 1513. Fabyan, Chron., VII. (1533), 111. The duke of Lancastre landed at Caleys with a stronge company of archers and other warryours.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot. (Rolls), I. 384. Thir weirreouris into thair weirlie weid,… He gart thame enter in the thickest thrang.
c. 1538. Starkey, England, I. ii. 49. To the handys are resemblyd bothe craftysmen and warryarys wych defend the rest of the body from iniury of ennymys vtward.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron. Hen. V., 48. Kyng Henry … ordred his men for his most aduantage like an expert capitaine and a couragious warirer [read warrier].
1551. T. Wilson, Logic, H vij. Then should al captaines, and men of warre, be tendre ouer there poore warriours and base souldiours.
1570. Drant, Serm., E vj b. It should behoue me … to tell a long story what warriers and fire brandes of warre these Popes of Rome haue bene.
1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., I. iv. 14. And when the hardyest Warriors did retyre, Richard cry’de, Charge, and giue no root of ground.
1641. Earl Monm., trans. Biondi’s Civil Wars, IV. 28. Hee was rightly ranked in the number of the chiefe warriers of that age.
1732. Lediard, Sethos, II. x. 363. He had beforehand gain’d the reputation of a warrior.
1788. J. White, Jrnl. Voy. N. S. Wales (1790), 118. Many of their warriors, or distinguished men, we observed to be painted in stripes, across the breast and back.
1806. Wordsw., Happy Warrior, 1. Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he That every man in arms should wish to be?
1814. Scott, Lord of Isles, IV. xx. Warriors!—and where are warriors found, If not on martial Britain’s ground?
1826. J. F. Cooper, Last of Mohicans, xv. A swarthy band of the native chiefs … with the warriors of their several tribes.
1837. Dickens, Pickw., vii. He sprang like an ardent warrior from his tent.
1902. Times, 15 April, 10/6. That night [April 6] … a band of 40 to 50 native warriors made a dash for the camp.
fig. 1581. Marbeck, Bk. of Notes, 1045. Whosoeuer will playe the warrier vnder Christ.
b. occas. applied to a woman. lit. and fig.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xvii. 78. Þir wymmen er noble werrayours and wys.
1595. Spenser, Amoretti, xi. 3. Dayly when I do seeke and sew for peace,… She, cruell warriour, doth her selfe addresse To battell. Ibid., lvii. 1. Sweet warriour when shall I haue peace with you?
1604. Shaks., Oth., II. i. 184. Oth. O, my faire Warriour. Des. My deere Othello.
1762. Goldsm., Ess., x. heading, Female Warriors.
c. transf. Applied to an animal.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 340. The stooping Warriours, aiming Head to Head, Engage their clashing Horns.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist., V. 307. Small birds … are remarkably brave. However contemptible these little warriors are to larger creatures, they are often but too formidable to each other.
1887. W. S. S. Tyrwhitt, New Chum in Queensland Bush, vii. 135. ‘Look out for that old cow again, Jack,’ shouts Jim, ‘and I think that bullock’s a bit of a “warrior.”’
1895. J. G. Millais, Breath fr. Veldt (1899), 161. I had a nice easy shot at the old warrior [a wild pig].
d. Warrior’s belt: see quot.
1879. W. Rossiter, Dict. Sci. Terms, Warrior’s belt, three bright stars Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka, in the constellation Orion.
3. (Bloody) warrior: a local name for the wall-flower, Cheiranthus Cheiri.
1825. Jennings, Observ. Dial. W. Eng., Bloody warrior, the wall-flower.
1873. L. Belcher, My First Book, 25. Fragrant warriors with blood-red blossoms.
1875. W. Cory, Lett. & Jrnls. (1897), 381. All wallflowers (which our people call ‘bloody warriors’) died in the winter.
1883. Miss Broughton, Belinda, I. vi. The little garden-path, where the bloody warriors … grow in the sandy border.
4. A South American humming-bird of the genus Oxypogon.
1861. Gould, Monogr. Trochilidæ, III. Pl. 182. Oxypogon Guerini. Guerin’s Helmet-crest…. Warrior, of the dealers in specimens of natural history. Ibid., Pl. 183. Oxypogon Lindeni … Black Warrior, of the dealers.
5. Black warrior: an American bird of prey: see quot.
1884. Coues, Key N. Amer. Birds (ed. 2), 543. Buteo harlani. Harlan’s Buzzard. ‘Black Warrior.’
8. attrib. a. quasi-adj., belonging to or characteristic of a warrior, martial [? after F. guerrier adj.], as warrior-blood, hilt, hymn, laurel, lay, mêlee, plume, sound, spirit, threat, trumpet, wreath, youth. b. appositive, that is a warrior, as warrior-angel, ant, bird, chief, dame, god, guest, hero, king, love, maid, man, priest, prophet, queen, saint, son, steel, woman; consisting of warriors, as warrior-caste, class, file, host, nation, train, tribe. c. similative, as warrior-like adj. and adv., warrior-wise adv.
1667. Milton, P. L., IV. 946. To whom the *warriour Angel soon repli’d.
1834. Penny Cycl., II. 63/1. There are whole communities of *warrior-ants.
1897. Outing, XXX. 248/2. It was the advance guard of the warrior ants, and each leaf was carried by an ant!
1830. Mrs. Hemans, Wounded Eagle, 2. *Warrior bird! what seek’st thou here? Ibid. (1828), Birds of Passage, 10. Proud rivers, whose tide hath roll’d All dark with the *warrior-blood of old.
1842. W. C. Taylor, Anc. Hist., ii. § 2 (ed. 3), 50. In the reign of Psammetichus, the entire *warrior-caste of the Egyptians migrated to Ethiopia.
1715. Pope, Iliad, IV. 408. Then give thy *Warrior-Chief a Warrior’s Due.
1862. Spencer, First Princ., II. xvi. § 134 (1867), 372. The *warrior-class attains a perfect separation from classes devoted to the cultivation of the soil.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, VII. 1095. A *Warriour Dame.
1817. Scott, Harold, VI. xiv. What rage is thine, To quit the worship of thy line, To leave thy *Warrior-God?
1820. Keats, Eve St. Agnes, xlii. That night the Baron dreamt of many a woe, And all his *warrior-guests … Were long be-nightmar’d.
1701. J. Hughes, Praises Heroic Virt., 9.
| Ye gods! how great, how glorious ’tis to see | |
| The *warrior-hero fight for liberty. |
1844. Mrs. Browning, Rom. Page, v. While in Palestine The *warrior-hilt we drave.
1725. Pope, Odyss., VI. 196. By the Delian coast I voyag’d, leader of a *warrior host.
1887. Meredith, Ballads & P., 98. Fear of silence made them strive Loud in *warrior-hymns.
1725. Pope, Odyss., XI. 662. With haughty stalk he sought the distant glades Of *warrior Kings.
1851. Tennyson, To Queen, 4. The warrior kings of old.
1703. Prior, Ode to Mem. Col. G. Villiers, 87. Plant the *Warrior Lawrel o’er his Brow.
1815. Scott, Troubadour, iii. And still was heard his *warrior-lay.
1552. Huloet, *Warriour lyke, bellicosis.
a. 1716. Wycherley, Posth. Wks. (1728), I. 118. Thou, Warrior-like, do’st scour the dang’rous Field.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., II. i. 71. Why art thou heere … But that forsooth … Your buskin’d Mistresse, and your *Warrior loue To Theseus must be Wedded.
1725. Pope, Odyss., VI. 25. The *warrior Maid Glides thro’ the valves, and hovers round her head.
1812. Byron, Ch. Har., II. lv. He heard the busy hum of *warrior-men.
1839. Thackeray, Knightly Guerdon, iii. Sir Ulric rode first in the *warrior-mêlée.
1872. Macduff, Comfort Ye, xxvi. 378. The spoil and treasure of *warrior-nations.
1823. Mrs. Hemans, Vespers of Palermo, V. iii. The joyous winds Are tossing *warrior-plumes.
1911. W. W. Fowler, in Encycl. Brit., XVII. 760/2. The Salii or dancing *warrior-priests of Mars.
1817. Lady Morgan, France (1818), II. 373. To whom Moses gave the most fearful command ever issued by the *warriour-prophet to his obedient legions.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, XI. 756. Then with a graceful Meen, Lights from her lofty Steed, the *Warrior Queen.
1780. Cowper, Boadicea, 1. When the British warrior queen, Bleeding from the Roman rods, Sought [etc.].
1845. Sarah Austin, Ranke’s Hist. Ref., II. iii. I. 447. The *warrior saints, St. George and St. Martin.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, VIII. 140. Hercules, the *Warrior Son of Jove.
1920. F. J. C. Hearnshaw, in Discovery, May, 133/1. A series of striking military successes gained by Mehemet [Ali] and his warrior son seemed to portend the dissolution of the Turkish Empire.
1803. Scott, Cadyow Castle, xiii. The hoarse bugle’s *warrior-sound.
1841. Myers, Cath. Th., III. § 4. 11. We find … the *warriour spirit of the Judges,… sanctioned rather than rebuked by prophetic communications.
1899. Engl. Hist. Rev., April, 226. The almost total absence of the warrior-spirit from the poetry of the Far East.
1685. Dryden, Thren. August., 474. No neighing of the *Warriour Steeds.
1814. Scott, Lord of Isles, IV. ix. The *warrior-threat, the infant’s plain … were heard in vain!
1700. Dryden, Pal. & Arc., III. 723.
| But that which gladded all the *Warriour Train, | |
| Though most were sorely wounded, none were slain. |
1726. Pope, Odyss., XX. 96. To seek my lord among the warrior-train.
1812. S. Rogers, Voy. Columbus, III. 29. Those the wild hunter worships as he roves,… Or *warrior-tribes with rites of blood implore.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, VI. 244. None so renown’d, The *Warrior Trumpet in the Field to sound.
1871. Tennyson, Last Tourn., 516. But *warrior-wise thou stridest thro’ his halls Who hates thee.
1876. W. H. G. Kingston, On Banks of Amazon, 354. The early voyagers … declared that they met a nation of *warrior-women on the banks of this river.
1810. J. Montgomery, Cast-away Ship, 12. A gay and gallant company,… For *warriour-wreaths upon the sea, Their joyful brows prepare.
1816. Wordsw., Fr. Army in Russia, 20. He smote the blossoms of their *warrior youth.
Hence Warriorhood; Warriorism; Warriorship.
1837. Tait’s Mag., IV. 726. The stirring and barbarous ages of universal warriorship.
1864. Wrexham Advertiser, 2 April, 6/2. Being a ‘hero’ did not imply having great bodily strength, nor in warriorism.
1866. Caledonian Mercury, 3 May, 2/6. The laurels of warriorhood.
1885. Oman, Art of War, 20. What wonder then if his contemporaries … glorified him into the normal type of warriorhood.
1892. Nation (N.Y.), 24 March, 222/2. The secret of warriorism.
