Alanna Madden
June 27, 2021
Grammar Tips
The noun Calvary references the location of Christ’s crucifixion or an experience of intense suffering. The noun cavalry cites a highly mobile military unit.
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Ah, the English language. So many words and opportunities to epically confuse the meaning of one term with another. As is the case with the nouns “cavalry” and “calvary,” which not only have different meanings but separate pronunciations and spellings.
Capitalized “Calvary” is the location in Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified. When “Calvary” is not a location, it’s either a representation of the biblical scene (sometimes lowercase) or an experience of intense mental or physical suffering.
“Cavalry” (note the placement of letters) is a noun that describes a highly mobile military unit. In the old days, this meant cavalry traveled by horse. But in modern times, a cavalry is either a ceremonial role (for history’s sake) or a military unit that travels by motorized transportation.
In all fairness, it’s easy to see why the two words are commonly mixed up or misspelled: they both share the same seven letters.
According to Garner’s Modern English Usage, the similarity in letters causes English speakers to pronounce “cavalry” (/ka-vel-ree/) as “calvary” (/kal-ve-ree/) — a phenomenon caused by something called “metathesis” (Garner 138).
Metathesis is the phonological process of transposing sounds, syllables, or letters in a word or phrase (591). In fact, the word metathesis derives from Late Latin transpositio (‘to transpose’) via Greek metatithenai (‘to put in a different order’).
The concept of metathesis is not as foreign as you may think. The process causes other common speech errors, such as confusing “anenome” for “anemone” or “asterix” or “asterisk.” Two other prevalent mishaps include switching “nucular” for “nuclear” or “perscription” for “prescription.”
As mentioned above, the word “calvary” is a noun with three distinct meanings. The most formal definition of “Calvary” (always capitalized) references a hill outside Jerusalem’s walls where Jesus Christ was crucified. Anyone familiar with this religious location might also call it “Golgotha,” a term that also means “graveyard” or “burial place” for informal contexts.
Example sentences:
Additionally, any depiction or representation of Christ’s crucifixion may go by the word “calvary,” but it might not be capitalized depending on whether it’s a proper noun.
Example sentences:
Lastly, the noun calvary (always lowercase) can reference ‘an ordeal’ or ‘an experience of great suffering’ (Garner 138).
Examples sentences:
Affliction, agony, calamity, cross, curse, Gehenna, hell, misery, ordeal, torment, tragedy, trial, tribulation.
According to Lexico, the word Calvary stems from Late Latin calvaria for ‘skull,’ a translation of Koinē Greek Golgotha (‘place of skull’) that derives from an Aramaic form of Hebrew gulgoleth (also meaning ‘skull’).
The noun cavalry (sometimes written as plural cavalries) traditionally references soldiers who led the battlefield on horseback. Historical examples include the Mongol armies from nomadic societies of Asia, mounted knights of medieval Europe, or even armed forces from the American Civil War (three mere examples of the plethora that existed).
The occurrence of traditional horse cavalries continued into World War II, but most infantry units began using motorized transportation during the 20th century. Since then, the use of “cavalry” tends to reference modern armies who travel in helicopters or other forms of armored vehicles, while the original sense of “cavalry” makes an appearance for the sake of ceremonial roles.
Photo courtesy of British Library: “Charge of the French Lancers at Waterloo.” Photo taken from “British Battles on Land and Sea” by James Grant (1873).
Sentence examples:
Cavalrymen, horsemen, horse riders, mounted troops, troopers.
When phrased as “the cavalry,” the noun references an emergency help or rescue team (often traveling by helicopter or vehicle).
Sentence examples:
Liberator, rescuer, saviour.
The noun cavalry went through several adaptations before arriving in English in the 16th century. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, “cavalry” derives from Middle French cavalerie and earlier Italian cavalaria for ‘soldiers on horseback.’ Both words incorporate the noun cavallo for ‘horse’ (from Latin caballus), which is also found in English cavalier for ‘mounted soldier.’
Now that we understand the difference between “calvary” and “cavalry,” it’s worth taking a moment to see how these terms actually appear in mainstream media. For instance, most dictionaries state that we can use lowercase “calvary” to describe depictions of Jesus’ crucifixion, but in most cases, you’ll find it capitalized.
If you enjoy learning about tricky spellings or interesting word histories, we think you’ll enjoy the following grammar lessons by The Word Counter:
Test how well you understand the difference between calvary and cavalry with the following multiple-choice questions.
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