Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A personal attendant to the British royal household.
  • noun An officer charged with supervision of the horses belonging to a royal or noble household.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A large stable or lodge for horses.
  • noun An officer of princes or nobles, charged with the care of their horses.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An officer responsible for the care and supervision of the horses of a person of rank.
  • noun UK A personal attendant to a head of state, a member of a royal family, or a national representative.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an official charged with the care of the horses of princes or nobles
  • noun a personal attendant of the British royal family

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French écurie, stable, from Old French escurie, from escuier, squire; see squire.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word equerry.

Examples

  • None of the children had any very clear idea as to the meaning of that word 'equerry'; therefore it always filled them with a vague terror of unknown possibilities.

    A Book of Quaker Saints 1911

  • "I can only speak of what I saw -- of the keepers of the horses, and of the other men, whom, in my unfamiliarity with military fashions, I will call equerry, armorer, and squire or page.

    The Prince of India — Volume 02 Lewis Wallace 1866

  • “The Queen was disappointed, of course,” a former Palace equerry said.

    William and Kate Christopher Andersen 2011

  • Another of the aunts, Sophia, got away from Kew only to give birth to an illegitimate child, said by the gossips to have been fathered either by an equerry or by her own brother, Ernest Duke of Cumberland.

    Royal wedding cartoons show William and Kate are lucky it's 2011 2011

  • “The Queen was disappointed, of course,” a former Palace equerry said.

    William and Kate Christopher Andersen 2011

  • Jonsson stepped into the breach, marrying the former Duchess of York's equerry in August 2003.

    The Saturday interview: Ulrika Jonsson 2011

  • So you may guess that the matter on which he had sent for me was one of the gravest national import - Prince Albert, our saintly Bertie the Beauty, wanted a new aide-de-camp, or equerry, or toadeater-extraordinary, and nothing would do but our new Commander must set all else aside to see the thing was done properly.

    The Sky Writer Geoff Barbanell 2010

  • Maybe a royal equerry might put us out of our misery – was that the young David slept rough on the Mall before the last big royal wedding in 1981.

    Is the royal wedding a cause for celebration? Rachel Johnson 2010

  • Apparently the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, and the Queen's equerry will still be walking backwards and:Their successors will also be expected to learn to walk backwards safely and discreetly when leaving the monarch's presence.

    Archive 2009-08-01 2009

  • Apparently the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, and the Queen's equerry will still be walking backwards and:Their successors will also be expected to learn to walk backwards safely and discreetly when leaving the monarch's presence.

    Constitutional monarchy today 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "'Not dolly enough,' said the equerry, though to the private secretary not to the Queen. "

    The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, p 15 of the FSG hardcover edition

    October 13, 2012