A batman (or batwoman) is a soldier or airman assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant. Before the advent of motorized transport, an officer's batman was also in charge of the officer's "bat-horse" that carried the packsaddle with his officer's kit during a campaign. The term is derived from the obsolete bat, meaning "packsaddle" (from French bât, from Old French bast, from Late Latin bastum) + man.