lieutenant Hear it!

lieutenant Definition

lieu·ten·ant (lo̵̅o̅ ten′ənt; Brit & Cdn lef ten′-)

noun

  1. a person who acts for a superior, as during the latter's absence; aide; deputy
  2. an officer ranking below a captain as in a police or fire department
  3. U.S. Mil. a title used in addressing a first lieutenant or second lieutenant
  4. U.S. Navy an officer ranking above a lieutenant junior grade and below a lieutenant commander

Etymology: ME lutenand, luftenand < MFr < lieu (see lieu) + tenant, holding, prp. of tenir, to hold < L tenere, to hold: see thin

lieutenant Related Forms

lieu·ten′·ancy (-ən sē) noun pl. -·cies

lieutenant Synonyms

lieutenant

n.

officer, army officer, navy officer, marine officer, military man, soldier, platoon leader, fighter, commissioned officer, leader, looie*, 90-day wonder*, shavetail*; see also officer 3.

Lieutenants include: first, second, junior grade, sublieutenant.

lieutenant Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • gazette: Gazetted Second Lieutenant from the militia to the Manchester Regiment 1st December 1897.
  • appoint: In 1653 Knight was appointed a deputy lieutenant for the West Riding.
  • trust: Behind him he left Britain in a secure position under trusted lieutenants.
  • commission: He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps in January 1967.

Adjective modifier

  • deputy: In 1653 Knight was appointed a deputy lieutenant for the West Riding.
  • loyal: William the Conqueror instructed his loyal lieutenant, William de Warenne, to build a castle in the Lewes area.
  • naval: A former naval lieutenant talked enthusiastically about seeing the souls of dead soldiers in seagulls.
  • 2nd: He became a 2nd lieutenant in the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment then stationed in Germany.
  • 1st: All went swimmingly, the Beat Retreat including Highland Cathedral for which the 1st lieutenant on bagpipes joined us in full Scottish regalia.
  • chief: Grants of land were made to Sir James Douglas, one of Robert Bruce's chief lieutenants.

Modifies a noun

  • colonel: The son had been a lieutenant colonel in the army.
  • governor: Elected as lieutenant governor in 1860 he served until becoming governor the following year.
  • commander: They died on the altar of Tony Blair's arrogance " ( from a lieutenant commander ).

Noun used with modifier

  • lord: On 25 June he asked the new lord lieutenant, Lord Camden, to appoint him to the revenue or treasury board.
  • flight: Here I was shown into a battered corrugated iron hangar, where I was greeted by a battered, corrugated iron flight lieutenant.
  • army: Churchill entered the service of his country in 1895 as an army lieutenant under Queen Victoria.

Possessives

king: Appointed king's lieutenant in France in 1436, and reappointed in 1440, York was given generous French land grants.

Preposition: in

  • regiment: A third son, James, died a lieutenant in the 55th Regiment at Antigua in 1781 unmarried.
  • army: Lieutenants in the army get about a dollar a day, and common soldiers a couple of cents.

Preposition: of

county: The school, which has an average attendance of 50 boys, was opened in 1899 by the lord lieutenant of the county.