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• archer
  archer

  noun

  a person who shoots with a bow and arrow; bowman.
• Archer
  Archer

  noun

  William, 1856–1924, Scottish playwright, drama critic, and translator.

archer

¹ American  

[ahr-cher] / ˈɑr tʃər /

noun

• archers
  plural

1. a person who shoots with a bow and arrow; bowman.

2. Astronomy, Astrology. Archer, the constellation or sign of Sagittarius.

3. an archerfish.

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Archer ² American  

[ahr-cher] / ˈɑr tʃər /

noun

1. William, 1856–1924, Scottish playwright, drama critic, and translator.

2. a first name.

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Archer ¹ British  

/ ˈɑːtʃə /

noun

1. Frederick Scott. 1813–57, British inventor and sculptor. He developed (1851) the wet collodion photographic process, enabling multiple copies of pictures to be made

2. Jeffrey ( Howard ), Baron Archer of Weston-Super-Mare. born 1940, British novelist and Conservative politician. He was an MP from 1969 until 1974. His novels include Kane and Abel (1979), Honour Among Thieves (1993), and The Fourth Estate (1996): from 2001 to 2003 he was imprisoned for perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice

3. William. 1856–1924, Scottish critic and dramatist: made the first English translations of Ibsen

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Archer ² British  

/ ˈɑːtʃə /

noun

1. the constellation Sagittarius, the ninth sign of the zodiac

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archer ³ British  

/ ˈɑːtʃə /

noun

1. a person skilled in the use of a bow and arrow

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• archers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of archer

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French; Old French archier, from Late Latin arcuārius, equivalent to arcu-, stem of arcus “bow” ( see arc) + -ārius -ary

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Explanation

If you enjoy shooting arrows at a target with a bow, you can call yourself an archer. Some archers compete in the Olympics. In ancient times, archers primarily used their bows and arrows to hunt for food or battle against enemies. There were also famous archers in mythology, including Artemis and Apollo in ancient Greece and Diana and Cupid in ancient Rome. Archer was an Anglo-French word first, from the Old French archier, "archer" or "bowmaker," from the Latin arcus, or "bow."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

archer Archer archers

But the ability to hit the Russian archer instead of letting the arrows fall is even better.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

In the field behind them, a scarecrow in the form of an archer, along with rags fluttering from lines of string, are meant to keep birds from scavenging the newly planted seeds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Midway through pursuing her master’s in 2011 she discovered a friend was a master archer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

Or an illustration of Donald Trump, as one past archer aimed for.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

Ulmer of the Kingswood was amongst them, and it was the old archer who came forward to speak for the rest.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

Yes, England are without key players Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell on this tour, while Adil Rashid has been omitted from the XI and Josh Tongue missed out with a toe injury.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026

Archer cited the Texas cities’ high traffic volume as a potential benefit of the fleets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Archer, a California-based startup, recently completed the Northern California leg of its flight tour, which was meant to show how air taxis would work in urban areas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Dew made the ball incredibly slippery, while their attack was weakened by the absence of the rested Jofra Archer and benched Adil Rashid.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

Archer slammed his shoulder into it, pushed, feet and hands and body.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

Henry’s archers carried longbows that cost little, drawn by men trained in every village across the kingdom.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

The researchers draw parallels to human military history, where heavily armored knights were eventually replaced by specialized soldiers such as archers and crossbowmen.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 22, 2025

The 250 yards is a typical distance for castle-bashing, since the archers defending such strongholds struggled to hit targets much beyond that distance.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2025

Stutzman started against Victor Sardina Viveros of Mexico, one of several armless archers who followed him into the sport and call him a mentor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2024

“I’ve seen archers in Nippon do something similar.”

From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman

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