Templar

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈtemplər/

Definitions

1. A member of a medieval Christian military order founded in the 12th century to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land
2. A historic figure part of a religious military society formed in the Middle Ages, dedicated to defending pilgrims and engaging in crusades for Christianity
3. A soldier of a historic Christian order established in the 12th century, focused on safeguarding pilgrims and participating in the Crusades for religious purposes

Etymology: The Knights Templar took their name from the Temple of Jerusalem. Founded around 1119 to protect pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land, the order was quartered in a wing of the former Temple Mount compound, traditionally identified as the site of Solomon's Temple, and that location gave the men their name. The word passed into Middle English from Old French "templier", which was itself built on the Medieval Latin "templārius", a derivative of Latin "templum", meaning "temple". The root is therefore simple: "templum" plus the suffix "-āris", which in Late Latin formed adjectives meaning "belonging to" or "connected with". A "templāris" was a man connected with the temple, and the Medieval Latin noun simply turned that description into a title for the members of the order.

Synonyms: knight, warrior, crusader, paladin, champion

Antonyms: coward, defector, traitor, renegade, deserter