The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. Originally, an officer who had the care of horses; a
      groom. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
          [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Marshal \Mar"shal\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Marshaledor
   Marshalled; p. pr. & vb. n. Marshaling or Marshalling.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. To dispose in order; to arrange in a suitable manner; as,
      to marshal troops or an army.
      [1913 Webster]

            And marshaling the heroes of his name
            As, in their order, next to light they came.
                                                  --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To direct, guide, or lead.
      [1913 Webster]

            Thou marshalest me the way that I was going. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Her.) To dispose in due order, as the different
      quarterings on an escutcheon, or the different crests when
      several belong to an achievement.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

marshal
    n 1: a law officer having duties similar to those of a sheriff
         in carrying out the judgments of a court of law [syn:
         marshal, marshall]
    2: (in some countries) a military officer of highest rank [syn:
       marshal, marshall]
    v 1: place in proper rank; "marshal the troops"
    2: arrange in logical order; "marshal facts or arguments"
    3: make ready for action or use; "marshal resources" [syn:
       mobilize, mobilise, marshal, summon]
    4: lead ceremoniously, as in a procession

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

251 Moby Thesaurus words for "marshal":
   ADC, Abbot of Unreason, CO, G-man, Lord of Misrule, MC, MP, OD,
   accouple, accumulate, adduce, advance, agglutinate, aide,
   aide-de-camp, align, allege, allocate, allot, amass, apportion,
   arrange, array, articulate, assemble, associate, attend, bailiff,
   band, beadle, beagle, bond, bound bailiff, bracket, bridge,
   bridge over, brigadier, brigadier general, bring forward, bring on,
   bring to bear, captain, catchpole, cement, chain, chaperon,
   chicken colonel, chief of police, chief of staff, clap together,
   clear for action, clear the decks, collect, collocate, colonel,
   combine, commandant, commander, commander in chief,
   commanding officer, commissioned officer, commissioner,
   company officer, compose, comprise, concatenate, conduct,
   conglobulate, conjoin, conjugate, connect, constable, convoy,
   cool off, copulate, couple, cover, cure, deal, deal out, deploy,
   deputy, deputy sheriff, detective, dispose, distribute, dress,
   embrace, emcee, encompass, escort, esquire, exec,
   executive officer, fed, federal, field marshal, field officer,
   first lieutenant, five-star general, fix, fix up, flic, form,
   four-star general, gather, gendarme, general, general officer,
   generalissimo, get ready, glue, government man, grade, guard,
   guide, harmonize, hierarchize, include, inspector, jemadar, join,
   junior officer, knot, lay out, lay together, lead, league, lictor,
   lieutenant, lieutenant colonel, lieutenant general, line, line up,
   link, lump together, mace-bearer, major, major general,
   make arrangements, make preparations, make ready, marechal, marry,
   mass, master of ceremonies, merge, methodize, mobilize,
   mounted policeman, muster, narc, normalize, offer, officer,
   one-star general, order, orderly officer, organize, pacify, pair,
   parcel out, patrolman, peace officer, piece together, place, plan,
   plead, police captain, police commissioner, police constable,
   police inspector, police matron, police officer, police sergeant,
   policeman, policewoman, portreeve, prearrange, prep, prepare,
   present, pretreat, process, produce, provide, put in shape,
   put together, quiet, rally, range, rank, ready, ready up, reeve,
   regiment, regularize, regulate, risaldar, roll into one, roundsman,
   routinize, senior officer, sergeant, sergeant at arms, set out,
   set up, settle preliminaries, shavetail, shepherd, sheriff, sirdar,
   social director, solder, space, span, splice, squire,
   staff officer, standardize, stick together, structure, subahdar,
   subaltern, sublieutenant, superintendent, systematize, take in,
   take out, tan, tape, the Old Man, the brass, three-star general,
   tie, tipstaff, tipstaves, toastmaster, top brass, tranquilize,
   treat, trim, trooper, try out, two-star general, unify, unite,
   usher, wait on, weld, yoke



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

MARSHAL. An officer of the United States, whose duty it is to execute the
process of the courts of the United States. His duties are very similar to
those of a sheriff.
     2. It is enacted by the act to establish the judicial courts of the
United States, 1 Story's L. U. S. 53, as follows:
     Sec. 27. That a marshal shall be appointed, in and for each district,
for the term of four years, but shall be removable from office at pleasure
whose duty it shall be to attend the district and circuit courts, when
sitting therein, and also the supreme court in the district in which that
court shall sit: and to execute throughout the district, all lawful precepts
directed to him, and issued under the authority of the United States, and he
shall have power to command all necessary assistance in the execution of his
duty, and to appoint, as there shall be occasion, one or more deputies, who
shall be removable from office by the judge of the district court, or the
circuit court sitting within the district, at the pleasure of either. And
before he enters on the duties of his office, he shall become bound for the
faithful performance of the same, by himself and by his deputies, before the
judge of the district court, to the United States jointly and severally,
with two good and sufficient sureties, inhabitants and freeholders of such
district, to be approved by the district judge, in the sum of twenty
thousand dollars, and shall take before said judge, as shall also his
deputies, before they enter on the duties of their appointment, the
following oath of office: "I, A B, do solemnly swear or affirm, that I will
faithfully execute all lawful precepts directed to the marshal of the
district of________under the authority of the United States, and true
returns make; and in all things well and truly, and without malice or
partiality, perform the duties of the office of marshal (or marshal's
deputy, as the case may be) of the district of _________ during my
continuance in said office, and take only my lawful fees. So help me God."
     3.-Sec. 28. That in all causes wherein the marshal, or his deputy,
shall be a party, the writs and precepts therein shall be directed to such
disinterested person, as the court, or any justice or judge thereof may
appoint, and the person so appointed is hereby authorized to execute and
return the same. And in case of the death of any marshal, his deputy or
deputies, shall continue in office unless otherwise specially removed; and
shall execute the same in the name of the deceased, until another marshal
shall be appointed and sworn: And the defaults, or misfeasances in office of
such deputy or deputies in the mean time, as well as before, shall be
adjudged a breach of the condition of the bond given, as before directed, by
the marshal who appointed them; and the executor or administrator of the
deceased marshal, shall have like remedy for the defaults and misfeasances
in office of such deputy or deputies during such interval, as they would be
entitled to if the marshal had continued in life, and in the exercise of his
said office, until his successor was appointed, and sworn or affirmed: And
every marshal, or his deputy, when removed from office, or when the term for
which the marshal is appointed shall expire, shall have power,
notwithstanding, to execute all such precepts as may be in their hands,
respectively, at the time of such removal or expiration of office; and the
marshal shall be held answerable for the delivery to his successors of all
prisoners which may be in his custody at the time of his removal, or when
the term for which he is appointed shall expire, and for that purpose may
retain such prisoners in his custody, until his successor shall be
appointed, and qualified as the law directs.
     4. By the act making certain alterations in the act for establishing
the judicial courts, &c. passed June 9, 1794, 1 Story's L. U. S. 865, it is
enacted,
     Sec. 7. That so much of the act to establish the judicial courts of the
United States, as is, or may be, construed to require the attendance of the
marshals of all the districts at the supreme court, shall be, and the same
is hereby repealed: And that the said court shall be attended, during its
session, by the marshal of the district only, in which the court shall sit,
unless the attendance of the marshals of other districts shall be required
by special order of the said court.
     5. The act of February 28, 1795, 1 Story's L. U. S. 391, directs,
     Sec. 9. That the marshals of the several districts, and their deputies,
shall have the same powers, in executing the laws of the United States, as
sheriffs and their deputies, in the several states, have by law in executing
the laws of the respective states.
     6. There are various other legislative provisions in relation to the
duties and rights of marshals, which are here briefly noticed with reference
to the laws themselves.
     7.-1. The act of May 8, 1792, s. 4, provides for the payment of
expenses incurred by the marshal in holding the courts of the United States,
the payment of jurors, witnesses, &c.
     8.-2. The act of April 16, 1817, prescribes the duties of the marshal
in relation to the proceeds of prizes captured by the public armed ships of
the United States and sold by decree of court.
     9.-3. The resolution of congress of March 3, 1791; the act of
February 25, 1799, s. 5; and the resolution of March 3, 1821; all relate to
the duties of marshals in procuring prisons, and detaining and keeping
prisoners.
    10.-4. The act of April 10, 1806, directs how and for what, marshals
shall give bonds for the faithful execution of their office.
    11.-5. The act of September 18, 1850, s. 5, prescribes the duties of
the marshal in relation to obeying and executing all warrants and precepts
issued under the provisions of this act, and the penalties he shall incur
for refusing to receive and execute the said warrants when rendered, and for
permitting the fugitive to escape after arrest, Vide Story's L. U. S. Index,
h.t.; Serg. Const. Law, ch. 25; 2 Dall. 402; United States v. Burr, 365;
Mason's R. 100; 2 Gall. 101; 4 Cranch, 96; 7 Cranch, 276; 9 Cranch, 86, 212;
6 Wheat. 194; 9 Wheat. 645; Minot, Stat. U. S. Index, h.t.