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soldier

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The definition of a soldier is a person who serves in the military.

(noun)

A man or a woman serving in the Army is an example of a soldier.

To soldier is to serve in an army or to persevere and continue on with something that is difficult.

(verb)

When you are faced with obstacles to a project and you just keep on going and working through, this is an example of a time when you soldier on with your project.

See soldier in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

a person serving in an army; member of an army
1. an enlisted person, as distinguished from one holding a warrant or commission
2. any low-ranking member of a Mafia family
one who has much military experience or military skill
a person who works zealously for a specified cause
an ant or termite of a caste having an enlarged head and jaws and serving as fighters in defense of the colony

Origin: ME soldiour < OFr soldier < solde, coin, pay < LL solidus: see solidus

intransitive verb

to serve as a soldier
to proceed stubbornly or doggedly: usually with on
to shirk one's duty, as by making a pretense of working, feigning illness, etc.

See soldier in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

One who serves in an army.
An enlisted person or a noncommissioned officer.
An active, loyal, or militant follower of an organization.
a. A sexually undeveloped form of certain ants and termites, having large heads and powerful jaws.
b. One of a group of honeybees that swarm in defense of a hive.

intransitive verb sol·diered, sol·dier·ing, sol·diers

To be or serve as a soldier.
To make a show of working in order to escape punishment.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English soudier, mercenary

Origin: , from Anglo-Norman soudeour, soldeier

Origin: and Old French soudoior, soudier

Origin: , both from Old French sol, soud, sou

Origin: , from Late Latin solidum, soldum, pay

Origin: , from solidus, solidus; see solidus

Related Forms:

solˈdier·shipˌ noun

Word History: Why do soldiers fight? One answer is hidden in the word soldier itself. Its first recorded occurrence is found in a work composed around 1300, the word having come into Middle English (as soudier) from Old French soudoior and Anglo-Norman soudeour. The Old French word, first recorded in the 12th century, is derived from sol or soud, Old French forms of Modern French sou. There is no longer a French coin named sou, but the meaning of sou alerts us to the fact that money is involved. Indeed, Old French sol referred to a coin and also meant “pay,” and a soudoior was a man who fought for pay. This was a concept worth expressing in an era when many men were not paid for fighting but did it in service to a feudal superior. Thus soldier is parallel to the word mercenary, which goes back to Latin mercēnnārius, derived from mercēs, “pay,” and meaning “working for pay.” The word could also be used as a noun, one of whose senses was “a soldier of fortune.”

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