Infantryman

Etymology and terminology

In English, use of the term infantry began about the 1570s, describing soldiers who march and fight on foot. The word derives from Middle Frenchinfanterie, from older Italian (also Spanish) infanteria (foot soldiers too inexperienced for cavalry), from Latin īnfāns (without speech, newborn, foolish), from which English also gets infant. The individual-soldier term infantryman was not coined until 1837. In modern usage, foot soldiers of any era are now considered infantry and infantrymen. Some military forces, such as the Canadian Army, use the term "infanteer" as opposed to "infantryman" to refer to an individual soldier of the infantry