mar·shal (mär'shəl)
n.

1. 1. A military officer of the highest rank in some countries.
   2. A field marshal.
2. 1. A U.S. federal officer of a judicial district who carries out court orders and discharges duties similar to those of a sheriff.
   2. A city law enforcement officer in the United States who carries out court orders.
   3. The head of a police or fire department in the United States.
3. A person in charge of a parade or ceremony.
4. A high official in a royal court, especially one aiding the sovereign in military affairs.

v., -shaled, also -shalled, -shal·ing, mar·shal·ling, -shals, -shals.

v.tr.

1. To arrange or place (troops, for example) in line for a parade, maneuver, or review.
2. To arrange, place, or set in methodical order: marshal facts in preparation for an exam. See synonyms at arrange.
3. To enlist and organize: trying to marshal public support.
4. To guide ceremoniously; conduct or usher.

v.intr.

1. To take up positions in a military formation.
2. To take form or order: facts marshaling as research progressed.

[Middle English, from Old French mareschal, of Germanic origin.]

marshalcy mar'shal·cy or mar'shal·ship' n.

WORD HISTORY   Hard-riding marshals of the Wild West in pursuit of criminals reemphasize the relationship of the word marshal with horses. The Germanic ancestor of our word marshal is a compound made up of *marhaz, "horse" (related to the source of our word mare), and *skalkaz, "servant," meaning as a whole literally "horse servant," hence "groom." The Frankish descendant of this Germanic word, *marahskalk, came to designate a high royal official and also a high military commander-not surprising given the importance of the horse in medieval warfare. Along with many other Frankish words, *marahskalk was borrowed into Old French by about 800; some centuries later, when the Normans established a French-speaking official class in England, the Old French word came with them. In English, marshal is first recorded in 1218, as a surname (still surviving in the spelling Marshall); its first appearance as a common noun was in 1258, in the sense "high officer of the royal court." The word was also applied to this high royal official's deputies, who were officers of courts of law, and it continued to designate various officials involved with courts of law and law enforcement, including the horseback-riding marshals we are familiar with in the United States.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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