CAVALIER, a horseman, particularly a horse-soldier or one of gentle birth, trained in knightly exercises. The word is taken through the French from the Late Lat. caballarius, a horseman. Chevalier, the French word of parallel descent, means "knight," and is chiefly used in English for a member of certain foreign military or other orders, particularly of the Legion of Honour. Cavalier in English was early applied in a contemptuous sense to an over bearing swashbuckler. Originally used as a term of reproach, it was soon adopted as a title of honour by the supporters of Charles I. in the Great Rebellion, who applied Roundhead to their oppo nents, and at the Restoration the court party preserved the name, which survived till the rise of the term Tory (see WHIG AND Tony). The term "cavalier," in fortification, means a work of great command constructed in the interior of a fort, bastion or other defence, so as to fire over the main parapet without inter fering with its firing. A greater volume of fire can thus be obtained, but the great height of the cavalier makes it an easy target for a besieger's guns.