cavalry

noun

cav·​al·​ry ˈka-vəl-rē 

nonstandard

ˈkal-və-rē 

plural cavalries

1

a

: an army component mounted on horseback

b

: an army component moving in motor vehicles or helicopters and assigned to combat missions that require great mobility

2

: horsemen

a thousand cavalry in flight

Examples of cavalry in a Sentence

Cavalry is used to perform reconnaissance.

The cavalry were brought in to support the mission.

Recent Examples on the Web

He was shot during a cavalry charge during the the Siege of Savannah and died Oct. 11, 1779. —Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 3 Mar. 2025

Rolling back to the times of the Russian Empire - complete with cavalry and drafting representatives of national minorities as cannon fodder. —David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025

Some of his favorite items include a defensive left-hand dagger from the 15th century and a Napoleonic cavalry saber. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 21 Jan. 2025

Detroit has lost its cavalry commander from the Last Great Newspaper War, the all-out mid-1980s battle for circulation in the last market outside New York where two newspapers still sold more than 650,000 copies a day. —Tim Kiska, Detroit Free Press, 21 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

earlier cavallerie, borrowed from Middle French cavalerie, borrowed from Italian cavalleria, earlier cavalaria "group of soldiers on horseback, branch of arms made up of such soldiers," from cavalliere, cavaliere "horseback rider, mounted soldier" + -eria, borrowed from Middle French -erie -ery — more at cavalier entry 2

First Known Use

1546, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing cavalry

• cavalry twill

Kids Definition

cavalry

noun

cav·​al·​ry ˈkav-əl-rē 

plural cavalries

: troops mounted on horseback or moving in motor vehicles or helicopters

Etymology

from Italian cavallerie "cavalry, chivalry," from cavaliere "cavalier, knight," derived from Latin caballarius "horseman," from earlier caballus "horse" — related to cavalier, chivalry see Word History at chivalry