rider definition

English rider definition

Etymology

From Middle English ryder, ridere, from Late Old English rīdere (“rider, knight”); equivalent to ride +‎ -er. Compare Dutch rijder, German Reiter.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: rī'də, IPA^(key): /ˈɹaɪ.də/, [ˈɹ̠aɪdə]
• (General American) enPR: rī'dər, IPA^(key): /ˈɹaɪ.dəɹ/, [ˈɹ̠aɪɾɚ]
• (Canada) enPR: rī'dər, IPA^(key): /ˈɹaɪ.dəɹ/, [ˈɹ̠äɪɾɚ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪdə(ɹ)
• Homophone: writer (some accents)

Noun

rider (plural riders)

1. A mounted person.
   1. (now archaic or historical) A knight, or other mounted warrior. [from 11th c.]
   2. An old Dutch gold coin with the figure of a man on horseback stamped upon it. [from 14th c.]
      • c. 1609–1622?, John Fletcher, “The Womans Prize: Or, The Tamer Tamed”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, OCLC 3083972, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

        His mouldy money! half a dozen riders.

   3. (generally) Someone who rides a horse or (later) a bicycle, motorcycle etc. [from 14th c.]
   4. (now historical or archaic) A mounted robber; a bandit, especially in the Scottish borders. [from 16th c.]
      • '1655, William Drummond of Hawthornden, History of Scotland […]

        In Evosdale eight and fourty notorious Riders are hung on growing Trees, the most famous of which was John Arm-Strong

   5. (obsolete) Someone who breaks in or manages a horse; a riding master. [16th–17th c.]
      • c. 1598–1600, William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:

        They are taught their mannage, and to that end Riders deerely hir'd.

   6. (now rare, historical) An agent who goes out with samples of goods to obtain orders; a commercial traveller or travelling salesman. [from 18th c.]
      • 1790, James Boswell, in Danziger & Brady (eds.), Boswell: The Great Biographer (Journal 1789–1795), Yale 1989, p. 70:

        I set out with a Paisley manufacturer and a London rider, the latter of whom I envied for his smartness and self-complacency.

   8. (now chiefly US) Someone riding in a vehicle; a passenger on public transport. [from 19th c.]
      • 2021 March 25, Somini Sengupta; Geneva Abdul; Manuela Andreoni; Veronica Penney, “Riders Are Abandoning Buses and Trains. That’s a Problem for Climate Change.”, in The New York Times‎^[1], ISSN 0362-4331:

        On the London Underground, Piccadilly Circus station is nearly vacant on a weekday morning, while the Delhi Metro is ferrying fewer than half of the riders it used to.

2. An addition, supplement.
   1. (politics) A supplementary clause added to a document after drafting, especially to a bill under the consideration of a legislature. [from 17th c.]
   2. An amendment or addition to an entertainer's performance contract, often covering a performer's equipment or food, drinks, and general comfort requirements. [from 20th c.]
   3. An additional matter or question arising in corollary; a qualification. [from 19th c.]
      • 2015, Ed Glinert, East End Chronicles‎^[2], Penguin UK, →ISBN:

        But they would hush momentarily for the farce, specially if billed with the grand rider: ‘licensed by the Lord Chamberlain expressly for this theatre’.

   4. A supplementary question, now especially in mathematics. [from 19th c.]
      • 1886, Arthur Sherburne Hardy, The Wind of Destiny

        This [question] was a rider which Mab found difficult to answer.

3. Technical senses.
   1. (shipbuilding) An interior rib occasionally fixed in a ship's hold, reaching from the keelson to the beams of the lower deck, to strengthen the frame. [from 17th c.]
      • 2016, Lucy Blue, ‎Frederick M. Hocker, ‎Anton Englert, Connected by the Sea:

        During the four weeks of research, a considerable part of the ships structure was discovered underneath the ballast stones: keel, floor timbers, strakes, keelson together with mast step and its sisters and rider

   2. (mining, now rare) Rock material in a vein of ore, dividing it. [from 17th c.]
   3. (nautical, in the plural) The second tier of casks in a vessel's hold. [from 19th c.]
   4. A small, sliding piece of thin metal on a balance, used to determine small weights. [from 19th c.]
   5. (cartomancy) The first Lenormand card, also known as either the horseman or the cavalier.
   6. (chess) A piece, such as the rook or bishop, which moves any distance in one direction, as long as no other piece is in the way.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• allonge
• driver
• germane
• passenger

Anagrams

• direr, drier, reird

---

Danish rider definition

Noun

rider c

1. indefinite plural of ride

Verb

rider

1. present of ride

---

French rider definition

Etymology 1

From Middle French rider, from Old French rider (“to wrinkle”), from Old High German rīdan, wrīdan (“to turn; twist; wind; wring; wind up; wrench”), from Proto-West Germanic *wrīþan (“to turn, twist”). Cognate with German reiden (“to turn; tie up; lace”). More at writhe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁi.de/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

rider

1. (transitive, intransitive) to wrinkle

Conjugation

Further reading

• “rider”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English ride.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁaj.de/

Verb

rider

1. (Louisiana, Cajun) to ride

Conjugation

---

Interlingua rider definition

Verb

rider

1. to laugh

Related terms

• surrider

---

Middle English rider definition

Noun

rider

1. Alternative form of ryder

---

Middle French rider definition

Etymology

From Old French rider (“to wrinkle”), from Old High German rīdan (“to turn; twist”).

Verb

rider

1. to wrinkle

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Descendants

• French: rider

---

Middle Low German rider definition

Etymology

From the verb rîden (“ride”). Cognate with English rider and German Reiter (“rider”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /riːðər/

Noun

rîder

1. a rider

---

Norwegian Bokmål rider definition

Verb

rider

1. present of ride

---

Spanish rider definition

Noun

rider m (plural rideres)

1. rider, biker (motorcyclist)

---

Swedish rider definition

Verb

rider

1. present tense of rida.

Anagrams

• dirre