Archer Meaning
/ˈɑː.t͡ʃəː/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounOne who shoots an arrow from a bow or a bolt from a crossbow.
nounThe bishop in chess.
Sentence Examples
The archer killed the deer.
The archer drew back his bowstring and released the arrow with deadly precision.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ pulled the bowstring taut and released the arrow.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ aimed his bow carefully at the target in the middle of the field.
Word Origin & History
from Middle English archer, archere, from Old French archier, from Vulgar Latin *arcārius, alteration of arcuārius, from Latin arcus (“bow”). Displaced native Old English sċytta.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The Balance shows redemption’s need;
The Scorpion wounds He must endure;
The Archer tells His coming sure;
The Goat, His death in sacrifice[.]"
— 1862, [Frances Rolleston], Mazzaroth, or, The Constellations: Part III, London: Rivingtons, page 7:
"The Ram, the Bull, the heavenly Twins,
And next the Crab, the Lion shines,
The Virgin and the Scales;
The Scorpion, Archer, and Sea-Goat,
The Man that carries the Water-pot,
And Fish with glittering scales."
— 1893, E. W. Bullinger, Witness of the Stars, London: The author, page 16:
"In the Assyrian Standard [...] we see the figure of an Archer above that of a galloping Bull, and in another Assyrian Standard, that of Sargon II., we find not only the Archer and the Bull, the two constellations which 4,000 b.c. marked the equinoctial colure, but we may also clearly trace a reference to the two constellations which at the same date marked the solstitial colure, namely, those of the Lion and the Water-man."
— 1903, Emmeline M. Plunket, Ancient Calendars and Constellations, London: John Murray, page 79:
"Strange, too, how the old pagan names for the constellations—the Ram, the Bull, the Twins (Castor and Pollux), the Crab, the Lion, the Virgin, the Scales, the Scorpion, the Archer, the Horned Goat, the Water-carrier, and the Fishes, have persisted all these thousands of years in spite of attempts made by philosophers of the Christian and other faiths to give them more prosaic or more religious names."
— 1926 November 21, “How old is the zodiac?”, in The Woodend Star, Victoria, page 4, column 6:
"No racketting around and cocktail parties for those born under the influence of the Water-carrier and the Archer."
— 1947 November 14, Mountain District Free Press and Frentree Gully News, Tecoma, Vic., page 8, column 2:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ pulled the bowstring taut and released the arrow.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ aimed his bow carefully at the target in the middle of the field.