Equerries

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Attendants responsible for the care and management of horses in a royal or noble household; officers who assist dignitaries or military officials by managing their horses and accompanying them
2. Individuals serving as personal horse caretakers and aides to royalty or high-ranking persons; officers assigned to supervise stables and provide support in ceremonial duties
3. Personnel charged with overseeing the condition and readiness of horses for aristocratic riders; military or court officers who serve as trusted attendants and assist with equestrian matters and formal events

Etymology: "Equerries" is simply the plural of "equerry," so the story belongs to the singular. The word came into English by way of Middle French, where "escuirie" and "escuerie" were derived from "escuyer," meaning "squire." Its ancestry runs even further back to a Medieval Latin "scuria," meaning "stable," which was borrowed from Old High German "scura," meaning "barn." In other words, the word's original sense is closer to a stable-keeper than to a horseman as such. The spelling tells a different story from the one the roots suggest. English speakers came to associate the word with Latin "equus," meaning "horse," and the spelling shifted from "esquiry" toward "equerry" under that influence, even though the two words are unrelated. The Latin word played no part in the actual origin, and the modern spelling is the product of a sort of accidental resemblance.

Synonyms: attendants, officers, aides, valets