Spearers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Those who wield a long pointed weapon designed for thrusting or throwing, often used in hunting or combat; individuals who hunt or fish using such weapons; persons participating as members of a group equipped with these arms
2. People who utilize a shafted weapon with a pointed tip to pierce or impale targets, either for food gathering or warfare; practitioners of spearfishing or similar activities; members of a collective identified by the use of these weapons
3. Individuals engaging in the use of a pointed lance-like instrument for catching prey or fighting; those skilled in employing this type of tool for hunting fish or game; participants identified by their reliance on this traditional weaponry

Etymology: "Spearers" is simply the plural of "spearer," a noun meaning someone who uses a spear. The base word "spear" goes back to Old English "spere," a word of Germanic ancestry that named the long-shafted thrusting or throwing weapon, and it has stayed close to that sense for well over a thousand years. The ending "-er" is one of the oldest and most productive suffixes in English, used to turn a verb or noun into a word for a person or thing associated with it. Attaching it to "spear" produces a straightforward agent noun, the same pattern that gives us "baker" from "bake" or "farmer" from "farm." Because the formation is so transparent, "spearer" needed no special coinage and is best understood as a plain compound of a common noun and a common suffix.

Synonyms: hunters, fishers, warriors, fighters, attackers

Antonyms: defenders, victims, prey