A group of people, especially armed people, who go with a person of distinction for the sake of providing safety to them when on a journey;
1898, (w), In the Forbidden Land Chapter LXXXIII
The soldier who was pulling at the other end was clumsily unhorsed, and I myself was all but thrown by the unexpected jerk. This ludicrous incident at first provoked mirth among my escort, a mirth which their superstitious minds immediately turned into an ill omen.
1883, (w), George Thurston
Whole squadrons of cavalry escort had sometimes to be sent thundering against a powerful infantry outpost in order that the brief time between the charge and the inevitable retreat might be utilized in sounding a ford or determining the point of intersection of two roads.
An accompanying person in such group
1980, Ernest L. Secrest, My 1102 Days of W.W. II Chapter 9
The waves being so high when we and the escorts, which stayed about one quarter mile to each side and ahead of us, were in a trough at the same time and we were unable to see one another.
A guard who travels with a dangerous person, for example a criminal, for the protection of others
A group of people attending as a mark of respect or honor
An accompanying person in a social gathering etc.
1921, (w), More Tish Chapter 5
"He'd come in for something to eat—the red-bearded one. We had quite a chat. I told him we were traveling like Stevenson—with a donkey; but that one of the ladies had an abscess on a tooth and was going home. He said it was no place for women and offered himself as an escort."
Protection, care, or safeguard on a journey or excursion
1874, Horatio Alger, Brave and Bold Chapter 2
"I went home with Hester Paine, last evening, from writing school. Just as she had accepted my escort, Halbert came up, and in a condescending way, informed her that he would see her home."
2014, Jeffrey T. Parsons, Contemporary Research on Sex Work, page 87:
Of the 68 women, 26 reported that they had worked on the streets and as an escort over the course of their career as a prostitute, 18 exclusively as a street prostitute, and 8 as an escort only (i.e., working for an escort service).
To attend to in order to guard and protect; to accompany as a safeguard; to give honorable or ceremonious attendance to
2009, Allen D. Grimshaw, A Social History of Racial Violence
He reported that the police escorted the children five or six blocks beyond Natural Bridge Avenue and at that point stopped the white children who were following and shooed them back to the park.
1837, Mrs Chadwick, Novels of Nature
Lord Lyndsey, ever attentive, escorted his Lady to the carriage
To go with someone as a partner, for example on a formal date.