destrier

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman destrer, destrier, from a Vulgar Latin derivative of dextera (literally “(animal) led by the right hand”), from dexter (“right”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛstɹɪə/, /ˈdɛstɹiːeɪ/

Noun

destrier (plural destriers)

1. (historical) A large warhorse, especially of a medieval knight.
   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 236:

     I am resolved to share or avert the danger; which, that I may the better do, I would crave of thee the use of some palfrey whose pace may be softer than that of my destrier.

   • 1855, Al-Mutanabbi, translated by Richard Francis Burton, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     Dark and the Desert and Destriers me ken, And the Glaive and the Joust, and Paper and Pen.

2. A steed.

See also

• charger

French

Etymology

See destrier.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛs.tʁi.je/

Noun

destrier m (plural destriers)

1. destrier

Further reading

• “destrier”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.