Skip to main content
man-at-arms

man-at-arms

2 9.9
A soldier in medieval times who wears heavy armour and fights on horseback
  • noun
  • /mæn-ət-ɑrmz/
  • Archaic
translation icon : hombre de armas
  • The knight rode into battle accompanied by his loyal man-at-arms.
  • knights and men-at-arms
  • a dozen men-at-arms
  • two men-at-arms

Examples

  • A great king and a valiant man-at-arms.

  • Buldram's two men-at-arms were standing in front of the knight's door, both talking at the same time.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • And for the most part, the man-at-arms would have been right.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • One of the men-at-arms will have to do.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Now they will fear the Greek men-at-arms!

  • This is the brotherhood of men-at-arms.

  • He comes with 100 men-at-arms.

  • A few stable boys and men-at-arms paused in their duties to watch.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • My men-at-arms.

  • The Graham host accompanying Ridley was enormous, swollen to several hundred men-at-arms and retainers.

    Fiction book (2002)

Synonyms

cavalryman
vsman-at-arms
2 8.1

A soldier who fights on horseback or in vehicles

is specifically a heavily armed professional serving a military retinue
cavalier
vsman-at-arms
  • Archaic
1 7.9

A soldier or knight who fights while riding a horse

is more a professional heavily armed retinue member than a noble image
carabineer
vsman-at-arms
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A soldier who fights on horseback and uses a short rifle

is defined by medieval heavy armour and retinue service not firearms
cavalry soldier
vsman-at-arms
6.0

A soldier who fights on horseback

is more heavily armed and tied to a noble retinue in medieval times
lanceman
vsman-at-arms
  • Archaic
9.9

A soldier on horseback who fights using a long pole with a metal tip

focuses on being heavily armed and professional beyond one weapon
huscarl
vsman-at-arms
  • Archaic
9.9

A soldier who guards a king or noble and lives in their household in medieval times

is a general mounted professional for military retinues not household guard

Surface Forms

man-at-arms singular
men-at-arms plural

Morphology

man-at-arms = man + arms (transparent) = at + man + arms

The phrase is a literal compound 'man' + 'at' + 'arms' meaning 'a man who bears arms', so learners can readily infer 'armed soldier'. [Postprocessing: moved 'at' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Man-at-arms comes from the phrase man 'man' + arms 'weapons', so it literally means a man 'with weapons' or 'ready for battle'. It was used for heavily armed medieval soldiers, often on horseback, and that is why today it names a professional, well-armed fighter from that time.