archer

plural archers

1. One who shoots an arrow from a bow or a bolt from a crossbow.

   Synonyms: bowman, crossbowman, marksman, toxophilite, toxotes

2. historicalobsoleteThe bishop in chess.

1. comparativecomparative form of arch: more arch

1. astrologyThe constellation and zodiacal sign Sagittarius.

   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

   4 more examples

   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

   Synonyms: Centaur

1. A surname from Anglo-Norman [in turn originating as an occupation] for a bowman.
2. A male given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage.
3. A suburb of Palmerston, Northern Territory, Australia.
4. A number of places in the United States:
   1. A city in Alachua County, Florida, named after James T. Archer.
   2. An unincorporated community in Madison County, Idaho.
   3. An unincorporated community in Curran Township, Sangamon County, Illinois.
   4. A minor city in O'Brien County, Iowa, named after townsite owner John Archer.
   5. A census-designated place in Merrick County, Nebraska, named after Robert T. Archer.
   6. A township in Harrison County, Ohio.
   7. An unincorporated community in Marshall County, Tennessee, named after Archer Beasley.
   8. An unincorporated community in Wetzel County, West Virginia.