lieutenant

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /luˈtɛnənt/ UK /lɛfˈtɛnənt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a deputy or a junior commissioned military or police officer

The lieutenant relayed the captain's orders to the squad.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a deputy or a junior... deputy officer subordinate aide second

Opposites

superior commander chief

Word family

Derived forms lieutenancy

Related forms tenant tenancy tenure

Common collocations

lieutenant governor Noun + noun

Etymology

From Old French lieutenant ('place-holder, deputy'), a compound of lieu ('place', from Latin locus) and tenant ('holding', present participle of tenir 'to hold', from Latin tenēre).

lieu Old French tenēre Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# lieutenant

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /luˈtɛnənt/
**IPA (UK):** /lɛfˈtɛnənt/

## Meanings
1. a deputy or a junior commissioned military or police officer

## Examples
- The lieutenant relayed the captain's orders to the squad.

## Synonyms
- deputy
- officer
- subordinate
- aide
- second

## Antonyms
- superior
- commander
- chief

## Derived Forms
- lieutenancy

## Related Forms
- tenant
- tenancy
- tenure

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: lieu
- Root: tenēre

## Etymology
From Old French lieutenant ('place-holder, deputy'), a compound of lieu ('place', from Latin locus) and tenant ('holding', present participle of tenir 'to hold', from Latin tenēre).

## AI Etymology
Lieutenant comes from Old French lieutenant ('place-holder, deputy'), a compound of lieu ('place', from Latin locus) and tenant ('holding', present participle of tenir 'to hold', from Latin tenēre). The etymological trail includes Old French lieu and Latin tenēre. As a noun, lieutenant means a deputy or a junior commissioned military or police officer. The same family is visible in derived forms such as lieutenancy and related forms such as tenant, tenancy, and tenure.

## Topics
- Law & Government
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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