infantry
/ˈɪnfəntɹi/ noun
Forms infantries
- noun Soldiers who fight on foot (on land), as opposed to cavalry and other mounted units, regardless of external transport (e.g. airborne).
- noun (uncountable) The part of an army consisting of infantry soldiers, especially opposed to mounted and technical troops.
- noun A regiment of infantry.
- noun (colloquial, humorous) Infants; children.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle French infanterie, from older Italian, possibly from Spanish infantería (“foot soldiers, force composed of those too inexperienced or low in rank for cavalry”), from infante (“foot soldier”), originally "a youth", either way from Latin īnfāns (“child”); see there for more.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A body of children. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
- noun A body of soldiers serving on foot; foot soldiers, in distinction from cavalry.
Etymology [F. infanterie, It. infanteria, fr. infante infant, child, boy servant, foot soldier, fr. L. infans, -antis, child; foot soldiers being formerly the servants and followers of knights. See Infant.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “infantry”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details