spearman en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree English spear Proto-Indo-European *mon- Proto-Germanic *mann- Proto-West Germanic *mann Old English mann Middle English man Middle English -man English -man English spearman From spear + -man.
Meanings
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One who uses a spear; a soldier or warrior who fights with a spear; a person who hunts with a spear.
He spoke : the brawny spearman let his cheek Bulge with the unswallow'd piece, and turning stared;
1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Enid”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 79:The second Adigar is only entitled to twenty-four spearmen and fifteen whipcrackers.
1844, James Selkirk, Recollections of Ceylon, page 65:All around here the spearmen would hide, armed with those terrible shovel-balded spears that will kill a bullock at seventy yards.
1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 75:Then an old spearman will speak while they are drinking[.]
1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 65:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| spearmen | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (19)
bg копиеносец (soldier with spear) · cmn 槍手 /枪手 (soldier with spear) · fr lancier (soldier with spear) · sv spjutkastare (soldier with spear) · fa سرباز نیزهدار (soldier with spear) · fr piquier (soldier with spear) · el λογχοφόρος (soldier with spear) · ro sulițar (soldier with spear) · uk спи́сник (soldier with spear) · ca llancer (soldier with spear) · uk списоно́сець (soldier with spear) · te ఈటెకాడు (soldier with spear) · xal җидч (soldier with spear) · grc αἰχμητής (soldier with spear) · ar رَمَّاح (soldier with spear) · fa نیزهدار (soldier with spear) · hu dárdás (soldier with spear) · uk списобо́рець (soldier with spear) · pl włócznik (soldier with spear)