Meanings
nouninfantry (countable and uncountable, plural infantries)
plural infantries
- countableuncountableA regiment of infantry.
- colloquialcountablehumorousuncountableInfants; children.
The next summer there was a crop of blackberries in the woods. I took wife and babies, supplied with lunch and horse feed; […] Wife took command of the infantry and I of the transportation. We were both soon calling loudly for assistance.
1887, Transactions of the Iowa State Horticultural Society, page 142
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSoldiers who fight on foot (on land), as opposed to cavalry and other mounted units, regardless of external transport (e.g. airborne).
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinīnfāns“child”
- Spanishinfantería“foot soldiers, force composed of those too inexperienced or low in rank for cavalry”
- Middle Frenchinfanterie
- Englishinfantry
From Middle French infanterie, from older Italian, possibly from Spanish infantería (“foot soldiers, force composed of those too inexperienced or low in rank for cavalry”), from infante (“foot soldier”), originally "a youth", either way from Latin īnfāns (“child”); see there for more.
More words from Middle French, Spanish, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans infanterie
- infanteriesoldiers who fight on foot
Ancient Greek πεζοί, πεζοί
- πεζοί (pezoí)soldiers who fight on foot
- πεζοί (pezoí)the part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Arabic مُشَاة, بِيَادَة
- مُشَاة (mušāh)soldiers who fight on foot
- بِيَادَة (biyāda)soldiers who fight on foot
Basque infanteria, infanteria
- infanteriasoldiers who fight on foot
- infanteriathe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Bulgarian пехо́та, пехо́та
- пехо́та (pehóta)soldiers who fight on foot
- пехо́та (pehóta)the part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Catalan infanteria, infanteria
- infanteriasoldiers who fight on foot
- infanteriathe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Chinese Mandarin 步兵, 步兵
- 步兵 (bùbīng)soldiers who fight on foot
- 步兵 (bùbīng)the part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Czech pěchota, pěchota
- pěchotasoldiers who fight on foot
- pěchotathe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Danish infanteri, lakaj
- infanterisoldiers who fight on foot
- lakajsoldiers who fight on foot
- infanterithe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
- infanteriregimentregiment of infantry
Dutch infanterie, voetvolk
- infanteriesoldiers who fight on foot
- voetvolksoldiers who fight on foot
- de i.)the part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
- infanterieregimentregiment of infantry
Esperanto infanterio
- infanteriosoldiers who fight on foot
Estonian jalavägi, jalavägi
- jalavägisoldiers who fight on foot
- jalavägithe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Finnish jalkaväki, jalkaväki
- jalkaväkisoldiers who fight on foot
- jalkaväkithe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
- jalkaväkirykmenttiregiment of infantry
French infanterie, infanterie
- infanteriesoldiers who fight on foot
- infanteriethe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
- fantassinsthe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
- régiment d'infanterieregiment of infantry
German Infanterie, Infanterie
- Infanteriesoldiers who fight on foot
- Infanteriethe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
- Infanterie-Regimentregiment of infantry
Greek πεζικό, πεζικό
- πεζικό (pezikó)soldiers who fight on foot
- πεζικό (pezikó)the part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Hebrew חֵיל רַגְלִים
- חֵיל רַגְלִים (kheil raglím)soldiers who fight on foot
Hindi प्यादा, पदाति
- प्यादा (pyādā)soldiers who fight on foot
- पदाति (padāti)soldiers who fight on foot
- पाजी (pājī)soldiers who fight on foot
- पैदल सेना (paidal senā)the part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Hungarian gyalogság, gyalogság
- gyalogságsoldiers who fight on foot
- gyalogságthe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Icelandic fótgöngulið
- fótgönguliðsoldiers who fight on foot
Indonesian infanteri
- infanterisoldiers who fight on foot
Italian fanteria, fanteria
- fanteriasoldiers who fight on foot
- fanteriathe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Japanese 歩兵, 普通科
- 歩兵soldiers who fight on foot
- 普通科 (futsū ka)the part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Korean 보병
- 보병 (bobyeong)soldiers who fight on foot
Latin peditātus, peditātus
- peditātussoldiers who fight on foot
- peditātusthe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Latvian kājnieki, kājnieki
- kājniekisoldiers who fight on foot
- kājniekithe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Lithuanian pėstininkai, pėstininkai
- pėstininkaisoldiers who fight on foot
- pėstininkaithe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Malay infantri, infantri
- infantrisoldiers who fight on foot
- infantrithe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Norwegian Bokmål infanteri, infanteri
- infanterisoldiers who fight on foot
- infanterithe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Persian پیادهنظام
- پیادهنظام (piyâde-nezâm)soldiers who fight on foot
Polish piechota, piechota
- piechotasoldiers who fight on foot
- piechotathe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Portuguese infantaria, infantaria
- infantariasoldiers who fight on foot
- infantariathe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
- infantariaregiment of infantry
Romanian infanterie, infanterie
- infanteriesoldiers who fight on foot
- infanteriethe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
- regiment de infanterieregiment of infantry
Russian пехо́та, пехоти́нцы
- пехо́та (pexóta)soldiers who fight on foot
- пехоти́нцы (pexotíncy)soldiers who fight on foot
- пехо́та (pexóta)the part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Scottish Gaelic coisridh, coisridh
- coisridhsoldiers who fight on foot
- coisridhthe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Slovak pechota, pechota
- pechotasoldiers who fight on foot
- pechotathe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Spanish infantería, infantería
- infanteríasoldiers who fight on foot
- infanteríathe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
- regimiento de infanteríaregiment of infantry
- tercioregiment of infantry
Swedish infanteri, infanteri
- infanterisoldiers who fight on foot
- infanterithe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Tagalog hukbong-lakad, hukbong-lakad
- hukbong-lakadsoldiers who fight on foot
- hukbong-lakadthe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Tamil காலாள், காலாட்படை
- காலாள் (kālāḷ)soldiers who fight on foot
- காலாட்படை (kālāṭpaṭai)the part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Thai ทหารราบ
- ทหารราบ (tá-hǎan-râap)soldiers who fight on foot
Turkish piyade, piyade
- piyadesoldiers who fight on foot
- piyadethe part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
- piyade alayıregiment of infantry
Ukrainian піхо́та, піхо́та
- піхо́та (pixóta)soldiers who fight on foot
- піхо́та (pixóta)the part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers
Vietnamese bộ binh
- bộ binhsoldiers who fight on foot
Cite this entry
APA
infantry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/infantry
MLA
“infantry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/infantry. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “infantry,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/infantry.
Source: infantry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.