Other forms: equestrians
Equestrian means having to do with riding horses. Equestrian sport, an equestrian centre, the equestrian events at the Olympics.
It is formal and belongs to sport, art and property advertisements — equestrian facilities means stables. As a noun it means a rider, though horse rider is what people actually say. An equestrian statue is one of a person on horseback, and that is a standard term in art history. Note the pronunciation, four syllables with the stress on the second: ee-KWES-tree-un.
1adjectiveequestrianRelating to horse riding.
“She competes at equestrian events all summer.”
2nounhorseA horse rider.
“The course is designed for equestrians of all levels.”
equestrian is a relation to horses.
Latin equester meant belonging to a horseman, from equus, a horse — the same root as equine and, at a distance, the name Philip, which is Greek for lover of horses. English took the Latin adjective wholesale and never built one from its own word for a horse.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₁eḱ-
Latin
equester — of or pertaining to equestrians/cavalry
English, today
equestrian
Built from
Ultimately from Latin equester (“of or pertaining to equestrians/cavalry”) + -ianus (“-ian, related to”), from equus (“horse”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA