infantry

C2+ Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /ˈɪnfəntri/ UK /ˈɪnfəntri/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
soldiers who fight on foot

The infantry advanced under cover of the morning fog.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · soldiers who fight on foot foot-soldiersfootmen foot troops

Opposites

cavalry

Word family

Derived forms infantryman

Related forms infantinfante

Etymology

From French infanterie, from Italian infanteria, from infante ('foot soldier, youth'), from Latin infans ('infant, young person'); the foot soldier was originally a youth or servant.

infante Italian infans Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

# infantry

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɪnfəntri/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɪnfəntri/

## Meanings
1. soldiers who fight on foot

## Examples
- The infantry advanced under cover of the morning fog.

## Synonyms
- foot-soldiers
- footmen
- foot
- troops

## Antonyms
- cavalry

## Derived Forms
- infantryman

## Related Forms
- infant
- infante

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: infante
- Root: infans

## Etymology
From French infanterie, from Italian infanteria, from infante ('foot soldier, youth'), from Latin infans ('infant, young person'); the foot soldier was originally a youth or servant.

## AI Etymology
infantry comes from French infanterie, from Italian infanteria, from infante ('foot soldier, youth'), from Latin infans ('infant, young person'); the foot soldier was originally a youth or servant. The path is chiefly one of transmission: the word passes through the named languages and forms, with each stage preserving part of the modern shape. In present English, the noun sense is "soldiers who fight on foot", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as infant and infante, and in derivatives such as infantryman. Its semantic neighborhood includes foot-soldiers, footmen, foot, and troops, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Italian infante and Latin infans.

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

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