infantry

(in’fan-tri), n. [ infante ria = Pg. infante ria = It. infante ria, fanteria, infantry; serving on foot, as distinguished from cavalry; that part of a military establishment using small-arms, and equipped for marching and fighting on foot, constituting the oldest of the “arms” into which armies are conventionally divided: as, a company, regiment, or brigade of infantry. Abbreviated inf. Claver house,. leading them [his cavalry] in squadrons through the intervals and round the flanks of the royal infantry, formed them in line on the moor. Scott, Old Mortality, xix. As soon as mounted infantry begins to attempt maneeuvres on horseback, it nece arily becomes a very inferior cavalry. Eneye. Brit., XXIV. 359. 2. [As if directly