Cavalry

Cavalry: Once upon a time, soldiers who fought on horseback.  These days, soldiers who fight from armored vehicles. Cavalry made its way into the English language from French.  The French word cavalerie likely came from Italian cavalleria.  Naturally, cavalleria...

Cavalier

Cavalier Well, this word is tricky.  Better to begin with the etymology.  Cavalier comes from the Latin word caballarius, meaning, a horseman.  Caballarius derives from the Latin word for horse, caballus.  Caballus is the common, Vulgar Latin word for horse.  It...

Hippogriff

Hippogriff: A fabulous animal or monster, half horse and half griffon. I have to be honest.  I question their existence.  In the Harry Potter series, Buckbeak is a hippogriff. The U.S. Air Force, 50th Space Wing uses a hippogriff as their symbol.  The word comes from...

Cavalcade

Cavalcade: A procession of riders on horseback. Or, a cavalcade might also be a ceremonial procession, as in, a parade. Cavalcades no longer require horses. These days, a cavalcade could be a procession of vehicles, as in, “the presidential cavalcade.” Several years...

Equerry

Equerry: a personal attendant of a member of the royal family. Historically, the equerry was the royal stable. The equerry was also the name of those in charge of the horses of a nobleman. This word looks like it desperately wants to derive from the Latin word equus,...