constable

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   One holding the lowest rank in most Commonwealth police forces. (See also chief constable.)

   As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.

2. 2
   noun

   a lawman with less authority and jurisdiction than a sheriff

3. 3
   noun

   a police officer of the lowest rank

4. 4
   noun

   A police officer or an officer with equivalent powers.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Constable derives from the Latin phrase comes stabuli, “officer in charge of the stable.” One of its earliest surviving English uses was as the title of the governor or warden of certain royal castles. From Late Middle English it denoted an officer of the peace, and from the mid-19th century a police officer in the modern sense.

From Middle English constable, cunstable, constabil, connestable, cunestable, from Old French conestable, from Latin comes stabulī (“officer of the stables”). For the sense-development; compare marshal. Doublet of connétable.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary