Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Marshal \Mar"shal\, n. [OE. mareschal, OF. mareschal, F.
   mar['e]chal, LL. mariscalcus, from OHG. marah-scalc (G.
   marschall); marah horse + scalc servant (akin to AS. scealc,
   Goth. skalks). F. mar['e]chal signifies, a marshal, and a
   farrier. See {Mare} horse, and cf. {Seneschal}.]
   1. Originally, an officer who had the care of horses; a
      groom. [Obs.]

   2. An officer of high rank, charged with the arrangement of
      ceremonies, the conduct of operations, or the like; as,
      specifically:
      (a) One who goes before a prince to declare his coming and
          provide entertainment; a harbinger; a pursuivant.
      (b) One who regulates rank and order at a feast or any
          other assembly, directs the order of procession, and
          the like.
      (c) The chief officer of arms, whose duty it was, in
          ancient times, to regulate combats in the lists.
          --Johnson.
      (d) (France) The highest military officer. In other
          countries of Europe a marshal is a military officer of
          high rank, and called {field marshal}.
      (e) (Am. Law) A ministerial officer, appointed for each
          judicial district of the United States, to execute the
          process of the courts of the United States, and
          perform various duties, similar to those of a sheriff.
          The name is also sometimes applied to certain police
          officers of a city.

   {Earl marshal of England}, the eighth officer of state; an
      honorary title, and personal, until made hereditary in the
      family of the Duke of Norfolk. During a vacancy in the
      office of high constable, the earl marshal has
      jurisdiction in the court of chivalry. --Brande & C.

   {Earl marshal of Scotland}, an officer who had command of the
      cavalry under the constable. This office was held by the
      family of Keith, but forfeited by rebellion in 1715.

   {Knight marshal}, or {Marshal of the King's house}, formerly,
      in England, the marshal of the king's house, who was
      authorized to hear and determine all pleas of the Crown,
      to punish faults committed within the verge, etc. His
      court was called the Court of Marshalsea.

   {Marshal of the Queen's Bench}, formerly the title of the
      officer who had the custody of the Queen's bench prison in
      Southwark. --Mozley & W.