lieutenant

[loo-ten-uhnt, lef-ten-uhnt]

noun

1. Military.

   1. first lieutenant.

   2. second lieutenant.

2. U.S. Navy.,  a commissioned officer ranking between lieutenant junior grade and lieutenant commander.

3. a person who holds an office, civil or military, in subordination to a superior they act for.

   If he can't attend, he will send his lieutenant.

lieutenant

/ luːˈtɛnənt, lɛfˈtɛnənt /

noun

1. a military officer holding commissioned rank immediately junior to a captain

2. a naval officer holding commissioned rank immediately junior to a lieutenant commander

3. an officer in a police or fire department ranking immediately junior to a captain

4. a person who holds an office in subordination to or in place of a superior

Other Word Forms

• underlieutenant noun
• lieutenancy noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of lieutenant¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English from Middle French, noun use of adjective phrase lieu tenant “place-holding”; locum tenens, lieu, tenant

Word History and Origins

Origin of lieutenant¹

C14: from Old French, literally: place-holding

Example Sentences

Collins taught home economics in high school and math in junior high before she transitioned into politics, elected clerk of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1975 and then lieutenant governor in 1979.

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He graduated in May of 1964 as a second lieutenant, and they got married at our home church, Carver Memorial, in July 1965.

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Once the South took control of the submarine, Confederate navy lieutenant John Payne volunteered to be its captain.

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The following day, a lieutenant in the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s homicide unit emailed Mitlyng, asking the detective to huddle with the prosecutor on the case.

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He can take his place alongside Harry Kane as one of Tuchel's tried and trusted lieutenants when the World Cup quest starts next summer.

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