Jump To:

• 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.

---

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

---

Archer ² British  

/ ˈɑːtʃə /

noun

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

---

archer ³ British  

/ ˈɑːtʃə /

noun

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

---

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

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

Feeling loose, feeling good, Stutzman began to wonder: Could he finish his storied career with something no armless archer had achieved — Paralympic gold?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2024

In 2012 he became the first armless archer to qualify for the Paralympics and burst onto the international scene with a silver medal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2024

The distances they have to shoot also differ based on the classification system, which then determines whether an archer can use assistive devices such as wheelchairs and release aids.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2024

Weese said the archer had started all the trouble by taunting the sellswords over Beric Dondarrion.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

With Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson bringing the pace, England have a Swiss army knife of an attack, albeit lacking a left-armer.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Jofra Archer cut a frustrated figure when Razaullah hit him for successive straight sixes and at one point Gus Atkinson was asked to bowl bouncers with eight fielders on the boundary.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

Josh Tongue bowled quickly for his 4-42, Ollie Robinson passed 100 Test wickets with his 3-15 and Jofra Archer claimed the remaining three scalps.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

She glanced at Archer, thinking back to the night they’d met: Hatchet’s men trekking through the jungle, the smell of the roast and the idle chatter of his crew.

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

It was defended by a mix of infantry, archers, and cavalry drawn from across the Roman Empire.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 21, 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

Thousands wrote letters to suggest ways of capturing Goldie, including "get a gun that shoots a net" and "use archers to fire drugged meat into the air".

From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2025

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

Related Words

• administrator
• cleric
• director
• patriarch
• pontiff
• pope
• prelate
• priest