ruiter, noun

Forms:
Also ruyter.
Origin:
Afrikaans, DutchShow more Afrikaans, from Dutch ruyter.
obs.
A horseman. Also attributive.
Note:
Used in British English 1579–1702 (OED).
1809 H. Alexander in G.M. Theal Rec. of Cape Col. (1900) VI. 477The landdrost shall have for his due assistance in his office a Clerk and two Police Ruyters to be paid by Government.
1809 R. Collins in G.M. Theal Rec. of Cape Col. (1900) VII. 143The mail was formerly carried by the messenger or the mounted police ruiter from the drostdy of Swellendam to the place of the veld commandant Petrus Lombard.
1947 C.R. Prance Antic Mem. 97Some of the few horsemen still left in disguise as South African ‘Ruiters’.
A horseman. Also attributive.
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18091947