pikeman

English

Etymology

From pike +‎ -man. Compare the Middle English surname Pykeman.

Noun

pikeman (plural pikemen)

1. A soldier armed with a pike.
   • 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:

     Vitellius comming on couragiouſly with his pikemen and his harquebuſiers , deuided into two wings, charged them fiercely

2. A person who operates a turnpike.
   • 1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days:

     Then there was the music of the rattling harness, and the ring of the horses' feet on the hard road, and the glare of the two bright lamps through the steaming hoar frost, over the leaders' ears, into the darkness; and the cheery toot of the guard's horn, to warn some drowsy pikeman or the ostler at the next change ; and the looking forward to daylight — and last but not least, the delight of returning sensation in your toes.

3. A miner who works with a pick.
   • 1845, Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil, or The Two Nations, book 6:

     “My missus told it me at the pit-head, when she brought me my breakfast,” said a pikeman to his comrade, and he struck a vigorous blow at the broad seam on which he was working.

Translations

soldier

• Bulgarian: копиеносец m (kopienosec)
• Czech: pikenýr (cs) m
• Dutch: piekdrager m
• Finnish: peitsimies
• French: piquier (fr) m
• German: Pikenier (de) m
• Italian: picchiere m
• Macedonian: ко́пјаник m (kópjanik), копје́носец m (kopjénosec)
• Portuguese: piqueiro (pt) m
• Spanish: piquero m
• Swedish: pikenerare (sv)
• Turkish: mızraklı (tr), mızrakçı

turnpike operator

Anagrams

• Niekamp