lieutenant

See also: Lieutenant

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle French lieutenant, from lieu (“place”) + tenant (“holding”). Doublet of locum tenens.

Pronunciation

Noun

lieutenant (plural lieutenants)

  1. (military) The lowest junior commissioned officer rank(s) in many military forces, often Army and Marines.
    1. (military, US) In the US Army, Air Force and Marines, holding the rank above second lieutenant and below captain. Both ranks may be referred to as "lieutenant" or as the complete forms of the ranks.
    2. (military, US, navy) A naval officer whose rank is above that of ensign in the United States Navy and below that of a lieutenant commander. There are two ranks of lieutenant: lieutenant junior grade and lieutenant.
    3. (military, US) A commissioned officer in the United States Coast Guard, Public Health Service, or National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration whose rank is above that of ensign and below lieutenant commander. There are two ranks of lieutenant: lieutenant junior grade and lieutenant.
    4. (military, UK) A commissioned officer in the British Army and Royal Marines, holding the rank above second lieutenant and below captain. Both ranks may be referred to as "lieutenant"; however, "second lieutenant" is to specify that the officer is not yet a full lieutenant.
    5. (military, UK) A naval officer whose rank is above that of sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy and below that of a lieutenant commander.
    6. (military, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) A naval Commissioned Officer who holds the rank above sub-lieutenant and below lieutenant commander.
  2. A person who manages or executes the plans and directives of another, more senior person; a manager to their director.
    • 2023 December 9, Tripp Mickle, Cade Metz, Mike Isaac, Karen Weise, “Inside OpenAI’s Crisis Over the Future of Artificial Intelligence”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
      Mr. Scott immediately asked someone at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash., to get Mr. Nadella, the chief executive, out of a meeting he was having with top lieutenants.
  3. The second-in-command (2IC) of a group.

Usage notes

When used as a title, it is always capitalised, and frequently abbreviated to Lt.

  • Example: Lieutenant Anne Ward.

The rank of lieutenant corresponds to pay grade O-3 in the US Navy, Coast Guard, Public Health Service, and National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants
  • → Irish: leifteanant
  • → Swahili: luteni

Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

Adjective

lieutenant (not comparable)

  1. A military grade that is junior to the grade the adjective modifies: lieutenant colonel, lieutenant general, lieutenant commander.

Translations

References
  1. Only 14 to 19% of 14-year-olds used the traditional pronunciation IPA(key): /lɛfˈtɛnənt/ in a survey in 1972, and they are meanwhile (at the beginning of 2017) at least 57 years old: How do you pronounce Lieutenant Governor?, Toronto Star; July 6, 2014

French

Etymology

Univerbation of lieu tenant, literally “placeholder”, from tenir lieu (“to hold the place of someone, to act as a substitute for someone”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ljøt.nɑ̃/
  • Audio (FR)(file)
  • Audio(file)

Noun

lieutenant m (plural lieutenants, feminine lieutenante)

  1. (military) lieutenant
  2. deputy, right-hand man, second-in-command
    Synonym: adjoint

Derived terms

Descendants

Further reading

Middle French

Noun

lieutenant m (plural lieutenants)

  1. lieutenant (person who executes the plans and directives of another)

Descendants
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