quartermaster

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a military officer or specialist responsible for supplies, equipment, transport, and often accommodation

   The quartermaster arranged fresh rations and winter uniforms for the regiment.

2. 2
   noun

   in a navy or merchant service, a rating or officer concerned with steering, navigation, signals, or related deck duties

   The ship's quartermaster checked the compass before taking the wheel.

Recorded in English in the fifteenth century from French quartier-maitre or Dutch kwartiermeester. It first denoted a subordinate ship's officer, then by about 1600 an army officer responsible for troops' quarters and rations. The naval and military duties subsequently developed along different lines.

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