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halberdier

halberdier

1 9.9
A guard who carries a long pole weapon with an axe and point
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : alabardero
  • 28 halberdiers.

Examples

  • This battle, it's not quite one on my side and my heroic halberdiers, we're holding this flank for a good amount of the time have actually now been destroyed.

  • Santangel and Columbus walk through the gardens, escorted by halberdiers.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • His men start to enter the river, led by a halberdier.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Yep, the only other infantry left standing are these halberdiers and that hell cannon trying to do work.

  • They asked the painter why are there halberdiers in the painting?

  • And yet, Louis... ...I hear that you're not averse to exchanging exercise... ...on a new horse for standing to attention in the hot sun... ...like a halberdier.

  • Thirty blacksmiths, twenty-eight halberdiers, twenty carpenters, a hundred farmers, twenty miners... and Doctor Chanca, the royal surgeon.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • With their pipe shell broken, the dismounted Austrian Knights were no match for the lethal Swiss halberdiers, who quickly poured through the breach and began their unstoppable charge.

  • The Duke himself presided, flanked by his halberdiers.

  • Santangel and Columbus walk through the gardens, escorted by halberdiers.

Synonyms

man-at-arms
vshalberdier
  • Archaic
2 9.9

A soldier in medieval times who wears heavy armour and fights on horseback

is a foot guard armed with a pole weapon rather than a mounted fighter
pikeman
vshalberdier
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A soldier from long ago who carried a long spear to fight

is armed with a pole weapon combining blade and spike rather than a spear

Surface Forms

halberdier singular
halberdiers plural

Morphology

halberdier = halberd (transparent) = halberd + ier

The word is a transparent agent‑nominal formation: 'halberd' + agent suffix '-ier' = person armed with a halberd.

Etymology

The word halberdier comes from halberd, a long pole weapon that is part 'axe' and part 'spear', and the ending -ier, meaning 'person who uses'. So a halberdier is a soldier or guard who carries a halberd, often seen in old European ceremonies.