marshal

noun mar·shal \ ˈmär-shəl \

variants: or less commonly marshall

|Updated on: 13 Aug 2018

Editor's Note: marshal Has Old German Roots

Definition of marshal

1 a : a high official in the household of a medieval king, prince, or noble originally having charge of the cavalry but later usually in command of the military forces

b : a person who arranges and directs the ceremonial aspects of a gathering

a parade marshal

2 a : field marshal

b : a general officer of the highest military rank

3 a : an officer having charge of prisoners

b (1) : a ministerial (see ministerial 3) officer appointed for a judicial district (as of the U.S.) to execute the process of the courts and perform various duties similar to those of a sheriff

(2) : a city law officer entrusted with particular duties

c : the administrative head of a city police department or fire department

—

marshalcy

play \-sē\ noun

—

marshalship

play \-ˌship\ noun

See marshal defined for English-language learners

See marshal defined for kids

Recent Examples of marshal from the Web

The New Braunfels shop can handle 562 people, according to the fire marshal, mostly on big wooden picnic tables sprawled across concrete floors.

— mike sutter, San Antonio Express-News, "52 Weeks of BBQ: Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que," 13 July 2018
The fire marshal’s findings made no reference to the appliance.

— max cohen, Philly.com, "House explosion that killed Gloucester County couple was accidental, fire marshal rules," 13 July 2018
Privacy - Terms The Fire District responded later to reports of a fire at approximately 11:30 p.m and found the barge ablaze with 20-30 foot flames, the fire marshal said.

— julia sclafani, sacbee, "'Lights on the Lake': Barge catches fire after Tahoe fireworks spectacular," 5 July 2018
The fire marshal, with help from the state police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit, is investigating.

— christine dempsey, courant.com, "Stafford House Destroyed In Overnight Fire," 13 June 2018
The owner arrived around 1 a.m. to find the house full of smoke, Byron Turnquist, West Bloomfield fire marshal said.

— caroline blackmon, Detroit Free Press, "Mid-1800s home damaged by fire in West Bloomfield," 6 June 2018
Several minor mudslides in the area forced one resident to evacuate, while other families voluntarily left Wednesday morning, county fire marshal Kevin Waldrup said.

— bruce henderson, mark price and lavendrick smith, charlotteobserver, "Storm 'proving deadly': NC declares state of emergency as rivers hit record-high levels," 30 May 2018
The Texas state fire marshal concluded that Knight should not have been so close to the building.

— mike hendricks, kansascity, "In a tragic loop, firefighters continue to die from preventable mistakes," 13 July 2018
Wheeler’s bill would set a minimum age of 18 to possess fireworks; require they be ignited at least 200 feet from any structure, vehicle or person; and mandate that retailers register with the state fire marshal, the Tribune reported.

— ted slowik, Daily Southtown, "Slowik: I’m for legalizing fireworks if taxes fund safety education," 11 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'marshal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

marshal Has Old German Roots

Although most French words are derived from Latin, a few—among them marshal—are Germanic. In the last centuries of the Roman Empire, the Germanic Franks occupied what is now France and left behind a substantial linguistic legacy, including what became medieval French mareschal. Mareschal came from a Frankish compound noun corresponding to Old High German marahscal, composed of marah, meaning “horse” (Old English mearh, with a feminine form mere, whence English mare), and scalc, meaning “servant” (Old English scealc). The original “marshal” was a servant in charge of horses, but by the time the word was borrowed from French into English in the 14th century it referred primarily to a high royal official.

Origin and Etymology of marshal

Middle English, from Anglo-French mareschal, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German marahscalc marshal, from marah horse + scalc servant

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

marshal

verb

variants: or less commonly marshall

Definition of marshal

marshaled or marshalled; marshaling or marshalling \ˈmärsh-(ə-)liŋ\

transitive verb

1 : to place in proper rank or position

marshaling the troops

2 : to bring together and order in an appropriate or effective way

marshal arguments

marshaled her thoughts before answering the question

3 : to lead ceremoniously or solicitously : usher

marshaling her little group of children down the street

intransitive verb

: to take form or order

ideas marshaling neatly

See marshal defined for English-language learners

Examples of marshal in a Sentence

She carefully marshaled her thoughts before answering the question.
marshaled their forces for battle

Recent Examples of marshal from the Web

Authorities believe two other men were also involved in the robbery, but were not able to marshal enough evidence to make arrests.

— clifford ward, chicagotribune.com, "Failure to testify against co-defendant nets longer prison term for man in slaying of Bensenville store clerk," 12 June 2018
Early hauls help potential donors identify which candidates can marshal the resources to go on air with television ads and assemble field operations.

— fenit nirappil, Washington Post, "Maryland’s Hogan has more cash than all Democrats in the governor’s race combined," 18 Jan. 2018
While Stigler was marshaling researchers in the think tank world, the market was evolving to include more opportunities for speculative investments and bigger IPOs.

— alexander zaitchik, The New Republic, "How Big Pharma Was Captured by the One Percent," 28 June 2018
Still other experts questioned whether the Trump administration could line up sufficient international support to make good on Mr. Pompeo’s threat to marshal the world’s toughest sanctions.

— michael r. gordon, WSJ, "U.S. Lays Out Demands for New Iran Deal," 21 May 2018
Ranked-choice proponents marshaled support for the new ballot measure to potentially override that law.

— jon kamp, WSJ, "Maine Voters to Rank All Candidates Rather Than Pick One," 8 June 2018
While Debater scored points on marshaling ample evidence for its arguments in a short period of time, the answers sometimes rambled and the delivery at times fell flat.

— kevin kelleher, Fortune, "IBM's Jeopardy-Winning AI Is Now Ready to Debate You," 19 June 2018
House Republicans are planning to caucus in December to marshal behind a candidate, an aim at preempting Democratic input.

— jasper scherer, San Antonio Express-News, "Straus’ presence felt at convention despite his absence," 16 June 2018
Internal changes will be made to accommodate freezers, coolers and an area to marshal online orders.

— denise coffey, Courant Community, "Brooklyn Walmart To Offer Online Grocery Shopping," 11 June 2018

Origin and Etymology of marshal

see ¹marshal

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

marshal Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of marshal

order, arrange, marshal, organize, systematize, methodize mean to put persons or things into their proper places in relation to each other. order suggests a straightening out so as to eliminate confusion.

- ordered her business affairs

arrange implies a setting in sequence, relationship, or adjustment.

- arranged the files numerically

marshal suggests gathering and arranging in preparation for a particular operation or effective use.

- marshaling the facts for argument

organize implies arranging so that the whole aggregate works as a unit with each element having a proper function.

- organized the volunteers into teams

systematize implies arranging according to a predetermined scheme.

- systematized billing procedures

methodize suggests imposing an orderly procedure rather than a fixed scheme.

- methodizes every aspect of daily living

MARSHAL Defined for English Language Learners

marshal

noun

Definition of marshal for English Language Learners

: an officer of the highest rank in some military forces
: a federal official who is responsible for doing the things that are ordered by a court of law, finding and capturing criminals, etc.
: the head of a division of a police or fire department

marshal

verb

Definition of marshal for English Language Learners

: to arrange (a group of people, such as soldiers) in an orderly way
: to move or lead (a group of people) in a careful way
: to arrange or prepare (something, such as your thoughts or ideas) in a clear, effective, or organized way

MARSHAL Defined for Kids

marshal

noun mar·shal \ ˈmär-shəl \

Definition of marshal for Students

1 : a person who arranges and directs ceremonies

a parade marshal

2 : an officer of the highest rank in some military forces

3 : a federal official having duties similar to those of a sheriff

4 : the head of a division of a city government

fire marshal

marshal

verb

Definition of marshal for Students

marshaled or marshalled; marshaling or marshalling

: to arrange in order

marshal troops

Law Dictionary

marshal

noun mar·shal \ ˈmär-shəl \

legal Definition of marshal

1 : a ministerial officer appointed for each judicial district of the U.S. to execute the process of the courts and perform various duties similar to those of a sheriff

2 : a law officer in some cities (as New York) of the U.S. who is entrusted with particular duties (as serving the process of justice of the peace courts)

3 : the administrative head of the police or especially fire department in some cities of the U.S.

marshal

transitive verb

variants: also marshall

legal Definition of marshal

marshaled also marshalled; marshaling also marshalling

: to fix the order of (assets) with respect to liability or availability for payment of obligations; also : to fix the order of (as liens or remedies) with respect to priority against a debtor's assets — see also marshaling