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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

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

However, Badenoch accused the PM of "catching arrows rather than stopping the archer" in his approach.

From BBC ● Mar. 4, 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

They featured complex politics and monstrous villains but also felt less oppressive: “Seraphina’s” eponymous hero is a musician rather than an archer, and music is at the center of the book.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2025

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

Professional creators with huge followings can no longer guarantee their audience will see the ads they post, while the work of creators with tiny followings can go viral if their content resonates enough, said Archer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Anduril Industries, a military technology company based in Costa Mesa, approached the San José-based air taxi venture Archer Aviation two years ago with a concept for a dual-use, self-flying rotorcraft.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Archer plans to announce the first customers for the commercial variant later this week, the company said in a release.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

The dismissal sparked life into England's seamers as Saqib Mahmood removed Washington Sundar in the following over, and Archer added Axar Patel and Shivam Dube to his tally to finish with 3-47.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

Master Archer wipes his bloody hand with his handkerchief.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

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

In the compound open category, archers shoot at 50 metres on an 80cm target.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2024

The archers, with Queen Lucy, fell to the rear and you could first see them bending their bows and then hear the twang-twang as they tested the strings.

From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis

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