Archer, William, 1856-1924, English author, critic, and translator, b. Scotland. Throughout his life he worked as drama critic on several London newspapers. He influenced the direction of English and American drama through his active interest in the work of the great Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. He translated Ibsen's Pillars of Society, and largely through his efforts the play was the first Ibsen play to be produced (1880) in London. Archer's writings include Masks or Faces (1888), The Old Drama and the New (1923), and several plays, including the highly successful melodrama The Green Goddess (1923).

Archer, The, English name for Sagittarius, a constellation.

Any of five species (family Toxotidae) of Indo-Pacific fishes noted for their ability to knock their insect prey off overhanging vegetation by shooting it with drops of water expelled from their mouth. Archer fishes are elongated and have a relatively deep body that is almost flat from the dorsal fin forward. The head is pointed, the mouth is large, and the dorsal and anal fins are placed toward the back of the body. Different species are spotted or vertically banded with black. Archer fishes live in both fresh and salt water, usually remaining near the surface. One well-known species (Toxotes jaculator, or jaculatrix) grows to about 7 in. (18 cm) long.

Learn more about archer fish with a free trial on Britannica.com.

An archer is someone who practices archery. Examples of archers can be found at the List of archers article. They were used in ancient and medieval times as part of armies. An archer was equipped with a bow and arrows which they used for long range battles. Archer can also refer to:

People

• Archer (surname)
• Anne Archer, American actress
• Brenda Archer, Guyanese high jumper
• Colin Archer, naval architect
• Frederick Scott Archer, British pioneer of photography
• Geoffrey Archer, British author of military thrillers
• Gleason Archer, Sr., founder of Suffolk University
• Gleason Archer, Jr., American theologian
• Iain Archer, Irish musician
• James Archer, Scottish painter
• James J. Archer, American Civil War Confederate general
• James W. Archer, American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient
• Jeffrey Archer, British author, former politician
• Johnny Archer, American professional pool player
• Lester Archer, American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient
• Malcolm Archer, British composer, organist, and conductor
• Richard Archer, English singer/songwriter, frontman of UK band Hard-Fi
• Tasmin Archer, English soul/pop/rock singer
• Thomas Archer, English Baroque architect
• Thomas Archer (pastoralist)
• Tony Archer, Australian National Rugby League referee
• Violet Archer, composer
• William Archer (critic)
• William S. Archer (1789-1855), Virginian politician

Fictional characters

• Cate Archer, the main character in No One Lives Forever, a computer game
• Frank Archer, a soldier in the Fullmetal Alchemist anime
• Jonathan Archer, the captain in the television show Star Trek: Enterprise
• Lew Archer, a private detective in series of novels by Ross MacDonald (named in honor of the The Maltese Falcon character)
• Newland Archer, a character in Edith Wharton's 1920 novel, The Age of Innocence
• Sean Archer, a character portrayed by John Travolta/Nicolas Cage in the movie Face/Off
• Archer (comics), an X-Factor character in Marvel Comics
• Archer, emissary of the Gorgonites
• Archer (Fate/stay night), a character from the Fate/stay night anime
• The Archers, the family at the centre of the eponymous BBC radio soap opera about rural life in England
• Arash (and variants), a heroic archer-figure of Iranian oral tradition and folklore (Shahnameh)
• Danny Archer, a character portrayed by Leonardo Di Caprio in the movie "Blood Diamond"
• Several related characters in the Philip K. Dick novel The Transmigration of Timothy Archer

Military

• Archer (tank destroyer), the British tank destroyer
• HMS Archer, name of seven ships of the Royal Navy
• HMAS Archer, name of a ship of the Royal Australian Navy
• AA-11 Archer, NATO reporting name of the Vympel R-73 air-to-air missile
• Project ARCHER (ARCHER Artillery System), an international partnership to develop the next generation self-propelled artillery system for Sweden and Denmark
• Operation Archer, Canadian Forces supporting the ISAF and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan

Aviation

• Airborne Real-time Cueing Hyperspectral Enhanced Reconnaissance, an aerial imaging system
• Piper Archer, a variant of the Piper Aircraft Cherokee general aviation airplane

Place names

Australia

• Archer River, a river in Cape York PeninsulaUnited States
• Archer, Florida
• Archer, Iowa
• Archer, Nebraska

Other uses

• "Green Archers", the varsity teams of De La Salle University-Manila
• Archer (horse), an Australian racehorse that won the first two Melbourne Cups.
• Archer (typeface), a typeface by American type designers Hoefler & Frere-Jones
• "An Archer", English slang for the amount of £2000, the sum allegedly given by Jeffrey Archer to Monica Coghlan
• Archer (band), hailing from Santa Cruz, California
• Archer Grand Prix cycle race, an international cycle race held annually in Britain for over 50 years
• Archer Road Club, a London-based cycling club
• "Archer", the anglicized version of the German name Schütze, meaning "shooter" or "rifleman"
• Archer Bible, a translation of the Bible