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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

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

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

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

Historically, taming a horse meant “breaking it,” explains Junko Goda, a horseback archer who was Bae Doona’s stunt riding double in Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2026

Chinese archer Ai Xinliang describes him as “sunshine, giving light to all disabled persons.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2024

In her low moments, Devi would take inspiration from American archer Matt Stutzman, who famously shoots with his feet using a customised device.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2024

She glanced at the archer in front of them.

From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack

It even backed proposals that shareholders rejected: Texas Capital Bancshares and Archer Aviation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Azan Awais - 6 - Rode his luck against Archer but otherwise played nicely for 46 in the first innings before being Robinson'd in the second.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

Jofra Archer - 8 - Brilliant in the first innings when he was unfortunate to finish with just the three wickets.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

While Archer was touching 95mph in the quickest opening spell of his career on day two at Lord's, Robinson was operating around 78mph at the other end.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

While Mrs. Archer made introductions—the boy was Oliver and the girl was Alyx—the kids inspected me while I inspected them, all of us trying to pretend we weren’t.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

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

Without the dragon and Hazel’s horse to distract the archers, they never would have made it up the ladder; but finally they climbed past a row of broken aerial oars and onto the deck.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

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