leaguer
leaguer Lexical Profile
leaguer Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A member of a league, alliance, or confederation, especially a player or team competing in a specific sports league (most commonly used in compounds such as 'major-leaguer' or 'little-leaguer').
"The veteran coach spent two decades mentoring young leaguers before retiring from professional baseball."
(Historical or archaic) A military camp, especially one established by an army besieging a fortified town or castle, or the siege itself.
"Historical chronicles describe the harsh winter conditions endured by the soldiers stationed in the leaguer outside the city walls."
• verb
To beleaguer, besiege, or encamp around a fortified place (archaic).
"In the seventeenth-century account, the general ordered his regiments to leaguer the fortress until supplies ran out."
Word Nuance & Usage
'Leaguer' is a homonym combining two distinct historical origins: the common modern sense ('a member of a league') derives from 'league' plus '-er', whereas the archaic military sense ('a siege or military camp') comes from Dutch 'leger' and is the root of the modern verb 'beleaguer'.
• Rhymes for leaguer
Word Origin & Etymology
The sense meaning a member of an alliance or sports league is derived from 'league' (from Old French 'ligue', ultimately from Latin 'ligare', meaning 'to bind') + '-er'. The historical military sense meaning a camp or siege was borrowed in the late 16th century from Dutch 'leger' ('camp' or 'lair').