soldier

A2 Topic:War & Conflict

Also spelled sojers’ll and soldierin

US /ˈsoʊld͡ʒɚ/ UK /ˈsəʊld͡ʒə/ See IPA manual

Freq #1618

Meanings

1

noun
A person who serves in an army.

The soldiers stood at attention as the general arrived.
2

verb
To serve as a soldier in the army.

He soldiered for ten years before returning home.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who serves in an... grunt

More diggerdogfacedoughboygijarheadjawanlobster regularservicemanservicepersonservicewoman

Word family

Forms soldieredsoldieringsoldierlysoldiers

Derived forms soldier-girlsoldier-likesoldier-proofsoldierbushsoldierdomsoldieresssoldierfishsoldierizesoldierlesssoldierlikesoldierlysoldiership

Related forms brother-in-armsfootsoldiernonsoldierpresoldier

Appears in

Phrases (2)

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Proverbs (4)

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Simplified etymology

Soldier entered English in the 13th century from Old French soldier, derived from soulde “pay,” especially military pay. Its ultimate source is Latin solidus, the name of a Roman gold coin, so the word originally identified a person paid to serve.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English soudeour, from Old French soudier or soudeour (“mercenary”), from Medieval Latin soldarius (“soldier (one having pay)”), from Late Latin solidus, a type of coin. Displaced Old English cempa (whence obsolete kemp). (red herring): An allusion to soldiers' red uniforms; red herring is, reciprocally, a slang term for "soldier".

soudeour Middle English soudier Old French soldarius la-med solidus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

War & Conflict

External links

# soldier

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈsoʊld͡ʒɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsəʊld͡ʒə/
**Frequency rank:** 1618

## Meanings
1. A person who serves in an army.
2. To serve as a soldier in the army.

## Examples
- The soldiers stood at attention as the general arrived.
- He soldiered for ten years before returning home.

## Synonyms
- digger
- dogface
- doughboy
- gi
- grunt
- jarhead
- jawan
- lobster
- regular
- serviceman
- serviceperson
- servicewoman

## Derived Forms
- soldier-girl
- soldier-like
- soldier-proof
- soldierbush
- soldierdom
- soldieress
- soldierfish
- soldierize
- soldierless
- soldierlike
- soldierly
- soldiership

## Related Forms
- brother-in-arms
- footsoldier
- nonsoldier
- presoldier

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: soudeour
- Root: soudier
- Root: soldarius
- Root: solidus

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English soudeour, from Old French soudier or soudeour (“mercenary”), from Medieval Latin soldarius (“soldier (one having pay)”), from Late Latin solidus, a type of coin. Displaced Old English cempa (whence obsolete kemp). (red herring): An allusion to soldiers' red uniforms; red herring is, reciprocally, a slang term for "soldier".

## AI Etymology
Soldier is inherited from Middle English soudeour, from Old French soudier or soudeour (“mercenary”), from Medieval Latin soldarius (“soldier (one having pay)”), from Late Latin solidus, a type of coin. Displaced Old English cempa (whence obsolete kemp). (red herring): An allusion to soldiers' red uniforms; red herring is, reciprocally, a slang term for "soldier". Important forms in the word's history include Middle English soudeour, Old French soudier, la-med soldarius, la-lat solidus. In current use it includes senses such as A person who serves in an army and To serve as a soldier in the army.

## Topics
- War & Conflict

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