A soldier trained to use an arquebus; an infantryman equipped with this early firearm.
From arquebus + -ier (French suffix for person, similar to English -er). The term emerged in the 16th century as standing armies developed specialized units of musketeers and arquebusiers.
Arquebusiers were the elite infantry of their time—learning to load and fire an arquebus accurately required years of drill, so armies valued them highly and often gave them better pay than regular soldiers, making them an early version of military specialists.
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