destrier

[des-tree-er, de-streer]

noun Archaic.

a war-horse; charger.

Nearby words

Origin of destrier

1250–1300; Middle English destrer < Anglo-French, variant of Old French destrier, literally, (horse) led at the right hand < Vulgar Latin *dextrārius (equus), equivalent to Latin dext(e)r right-hand (see dexter) + -ārius -ary

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for destrier

He bade his squire to saddle his destrier, and rode to the palace, to have speech with the lady.
French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France|Marie de France
This squire held the bridle of a destrier in his hand, though no man rode thereon.
French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France|Marie de France
It would have been a pleasant one had not Heriot and Destrier pretended all sorts of things about our previous acquaintance.
The Adventures of Harry Richmond, Complete|George Meredith
A steed led by the squire in dester was the destrier or dextrarius, or war-horse.
A Dictionary of the First or Oldest Words in the English Language|Herbert Coleridge

So, forthwith, the hero got him up on his destrier and ran full tilt against the rock.
The Serf|Guy Thorne

British Dictionary definitions for destrier

destrier

noun

an archaic word for warhorse (def. 1)

Word Origin for destrier

C13: from Old French, from destre right hand, from Latin dextra; from the fact that a squire led a knight's horse with his right hand

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

Word Origin and History for destrier

destrier

war horse, c.1300, from Old French destrier (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *dextrarius "led by the right hand," from Latin dextra, fem. of dexter (see dexterity).