cavalry
/ˈkæ.vəl.ɹi/ noun
Forms cavalries cavalery
- noun (military, usually historical, uncountable) The military arm of service that fights while riding horses.
- noun (military, countable) An individual unit of this arm of service.
- noun (military, countable) The branch of the military transported by fast light vehicles, also known as mechanized cavalry.
- noun (figurative) A source of rescue, especially in an emergency. “call in the cavalry”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle French cavalerie, in turn from Italian cavalleria. Recorded in English from the 1540s. Doublet of chivalry.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [F. cavalerie, fr. It. cavalleria. See Cavalier, and cf. chivalry.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cavalry”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details