Editing Marshal (section)

==Etymology==
''Marshal'' is an ancient [[loanword]] from [[Old French]] ''mareschal'' (cf. Modern French ''maréchal''), which in turn is borrowed from [[Old Frankish]] *''{{lang|frk|marskalk}}'' "stable boy, keeper, servant", attested by [[Medieval Latin]] ''mariscalcus'' from a [[Proto-Germanic]] ''*maraχskalkaz'' (cf. [[Old High German]] ''marahschalh'')<ref name="EnE">p. 93b-283a, T. F. Hoad, ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology'' (Oxford University Press, 1993)</ref><ref name="Etl">{{cite web |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/marshal |title=marshal |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=2018-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803131944/https://www.etymonline.com/word/marshal |archive-date=2018-08-03 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Chambers 20th Century Dictionary|editor=E. M. Kirkpatrick|publisher=W & R Chambers Ltd|location=Edinburgh|year=1983|page=772|isbn=0-550-10234-5}}</ref> being still evident in [[Middle Dutch]] ''maerscalc'', ''marscal'', and in modern Dutch ''maarschalk'' (="military chief commander"; the meaning influenced by the French use).

It is [[cognate]] with [[Old High German]] ''{{lang|goh|mar(ah)-scalc}}'' "id.", modern German ''(Feld-)Marschall'' (="military chief commander"; the meaning again influenced by the French use).<ref>{{cite book|title=Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache|editor= Elmar Seebold|editor-link=Elmar Seebold|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|location=Berlin&nbsp;– New York|year= 2002|edition=24th|page=1112|isbn=978-3-11-017473-1}}</ref>

It originally and literally meant "horse servant", a compound of ''*marha-'' "horse" (cf. English  ''mare'' and modern German ''Mähre'', meaning "horse of bad quality") and ''*skalk-'' "servant" (cf. Old English ''sċealc'' "servant, retainer, member of a crew" ) <ref name="EnE"/><ref name="Etl"/> and outdated German ''Schalk'', meaning "high-ranking servant".<ref>Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, Leipzig 1854–1960, Vol. 12 Col. 1673 [http://germazope.uni-trier.de/Projects/WBB/woerterbuecher/dwb/wbgui?lemmode=lemmasearch&mode=hierarchy&textsize=600&onlist=&word=Marschall&lemid=GM01765&query_start=1&totalhits=0&textword=&locpattern=&textpattern=&lemmapattern=&verspattern=#GM01765L0 Online-Version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021050746/http://germazope.uni-trier.de/Projects/WBB/woerterbuecher/dwb/wbgui?lemmode=lemmasearch&mode=hierarchy&textsize=600&onlist=&word=Marschall&lemid=GM01765&query_start=1&totalhits=0&textword=&locpattern=&textpattern=&lemmapattern=&verspattern=#GM01765L0 |date=2016-10-21 }}</ref> This "horse servant" origin is retained in the current French name for ''[[farrier]]'': ''maréchal-ferrant''.

The late Roman and Byzantine title of ''[[comes stabuli]]'' ("count of the stables") is similar in meaning, which became the Old French ''{{lang|fro|conestable}}'' and modern ''connétable'', and, borrowed from the Old French, the English word ''[[constable]]''.<ref name="EnE"/> Finally, in Byzantium, a marshal with elevated authority, notably a borderlands military command, was also known as an ''[[exarch]]''.