equestrian
/ɪˈkwɛstrɪən
/ /ɛˈkwɛstrɪən/adjective
1Relating to horse riding: his amazing equestrian skills...
- But by 300 BC, these tribes had acquired horses and used their equestrian skills to develop very effective cavalry tactics.
- His farming enterprises are a herd of suckler cows and horses, which compete in the equestrian sport of eventing up to and including international level.
- Horse breeding and equestrian sports have always been recognised by the society as an integral part of this activity.
1.1Depicting or representing a person on horseback: an equestrian statue...
- For honorific statues of emperors and mortals, Romans could be portrayed in togas, in military garb, as naked or half-draped figures after Greek prototypes, or on horseback in equestrian statues.
- The Bannockburn Heritage Centre, close to the Glasgow Road and run by the National Trust for Scotland, has the famous equestrian statue of Bruce and an audio-visual show and display material.
- In Union Square, the biggest rally gathered beneath an equestrian statue scaled by mourners, draped with American flags and covered with the word ‘Peace’, in chalk.
Synonyms
on horseback, mounted, riding, in the saddle
1.2(In ancient Rome) relating or belonging to the wealthy class known as the equites (see equites).The situation was saved by Gaius Marius (c.157-86 B.C.), a man born into a family recently admitted to equestrian status but who was politically well-connected....
- Marius now intrigued against Metellus among his equestrian and Italian friends in Africa and Rome and won election for 107 by playing on suspicions of the aristocracy.
- As the son of an old equestrian family, Ovid was sent to Rome for his education.
noun
1A rider or performer on horseback.The riders all are life-long equestrians with from 12-30 years in endurance competitions....
- The popular show features talented equestrians who, with their American Paint Horses, vie for more than $264,000 in prize money and prestigious World Championship titles.
- Be prepared to meet fellow equestrians on these popular trails.
Synonyms
horseman, horsewoman, rider, horse rider, jockey;
cavalryman, trooper
archaic hussar, cavalier
1.1(In ancient Rome) a member of the equites (see equites).The officers were drawn from citizens who were enrolled as patricians of senatorial rank or equestrians, also known as knights....
- The Senate, the voice of the aristocrats and equestrians, contended with the plebian masses for control of Rome, and directed the generals in foreign policy.
- Some Roman citizens were very clearly distinguished by their power and privilege: these were the senators, equestrians and the provincial elite.
Origin
Mid 17th century (as an adjective): from Latin equester 'belonging to a horseman' (from eques 'horseman, knight', from equus 'horse') + -ian.
Both equestrian and equine (late 18th century) ‘like a horse’ are from Latin equus ‘horse’, a word that goes right back to the earliest times—unsurprisingly, as horses would have been so important to ancient peoples. Its root was also the source of the Greek equivalent to equus, hippos, which is where we get hippopotamus or ‘river horse’.