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. Or xv C archars of ynglonde went a-way but vijs & thre.
1477. Earl Rivers (Caxton), Dictes, 89. An archier to faile of the butte is no wonder.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., V. iii. 339. Draw, Archers, draw your Arrowes to the head. Ibid. (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, -god, -queen, -rank.
1814. Scott, Ld. 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.
1470–85. (ed. 1634) Malory, Pr. Arth. (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.
