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archer

1 American  
[ahr-cher] / ˈɑr tʃər /

noun

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

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

  3. an archerfish.

Archer 2 American  
[ahr-cher] / ˈɑr tʃər /

noun

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

  2. a first name.

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Archer 2 British  
/ ˈɑːtʃə /

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
archer 3 British  
/ ˈɑːtʃə /

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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” ( arc ) + -ārius -ary

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The identity of the archer, or archers, remains unknown.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2025

A 16-year-old Olympian who was the youngest archer at the Paris 2024 games is celebrating passing her GCSEs despite "ironically" failing PE.

From BBC • Aug. 22, 2024

Megan Havers was the youngest archer competing at the Olympics - so always faced a tough task when facing number one seed Lim Si-hyeon in the women's individual archery.

From BBC • Aug. 3, 2024

“I’ll ride the wave,” he sang, pausing a half beat longer like an archer drawing his bow.

From Seattle Times • May 29, 2024

And one of them, the archer who’d saved Lyra from Mrs. Coulter, flew directly alongside the basket, and Lyra saw her clearly for the first time.

From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.