Schützen (en:shooters but usually translated as "marksmen") is a German plural noun used to designate a type of military unit of infantrymen, originally armed with a rifled musket and used in a light-infantry or skirmishing role – and hence similar to the Jäger. The individual infantrymen are termed Schütze. Prior to the introduction of firearms the word was used for ´archer´, and is sometimes used in the form Bogenschütze (bowman – lit. ´bow shooter´).
The verb schützen (to protect) is not related to the plural noun Schützen, but to "Schutz" (protection).
en
