saddle

Definition

A seat for a rider, typically made of leather and raised in the front and rear, placed on the back of a horse or other animal, and secured by a strap around the animal's body.

Etymology

From Middle English sadel, from Old English sadol, from Proto-West Germanic *sadul, from Proto-Germanic *sadulaz (“saddle”). Further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *sod-dʰlo-, from *sed- (“to sit”) + *-dʰlom (a variant of *-trom (suffix forming nouns denoting instruments or tools)), though the Oxford English Dictionary says this “presents formal difficulties”. Cognates * Danish sadel * Dutch zadel * German Sattel * Icelandic söðull * Low German Sadel * Russian седло́ (sedló) * Saterland Frisian Soadel * Scots sadil * Swedish sadel * West Frisian seal

Example Sentences

• "His [Cotton's] Horſe vvas led before, vvith a mourning Veluet Saddle on his backe, his Coffin had a Crimſon Sattin Quilt lined with purple Silke, ouer him vvas laid his Bible, Svvord and Hat: […]"
• "My horse's bridle they [robbers] slipt, and search'd yᵉ saddle, which they pull'd off, but let the horse graze, and then turning againe bridl'd him and tied him to a tree, yet so as he might graze, and thus left me bound."
• "Consider your master's health, and rather than let him take long journeys, […] leave one of his horse's fore shoes loose in the morning; or contrive that the saddle may pinch the beast in the withers; or keep him without corn all night and morning, so that he may tire on the road; […]"