sergeant

American  

[sahr-juhnt] / ˈsɑr dʒənt /

especially British, serjeant

noun

• sergeants
  plural

1. a noncommissioned army officer of a rank above that of corporal.

2. U.S. Air Force. any noncommissioned officer above the rank of airman first class.

3. a police officer ranking immediately below a captain or a lieutenant in the U.S. and immediately below an inspector in Britain.

4. a title of a particular office or function at the court of a monarch (often used in combination).

   sergeant of the larder; sergeant-caterer.

5. sergeant at arms.

6. Also called sergeant at law. British. (formerly) a member of a superior order of barristers.

7. sergeantfish.

8. (initial capital letter) a surface-to-surface, single-stage, U.S. ballistic missile.

9. a tenant by military service, below the rank of knight.

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sergeant British  

/ ˈsɑːdʒənt /

noun

1. a noncommissioned officer in certain armed forces, usually ranking above a corporal

2. 1. (in Britain) a police officer ranking between constable and inspector

   2. (in the US) a police officer ranking below a captain

3. See sergeant at arms

4. a court or municipal officer who has ceremonial duties

5. (formerly) a tenant by military service, not of knightly rank

6. See serjeant at law

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sergeancy
  noun
• sergeantship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sergeants
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of sergeant

1150–1200; Middle English sergant, serjant, serjaunt < Old French sergent < Latin servient- (stem of serviēns ), present participle of servīre. See serve, -ent

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Explanation

Sergeant describes a certain rank for a police or military officer. If you've been promoted to sergeant, congratulations are in order. Sergeant comes from the Old French sergent and originally from the Latin verb servire meaning "to serve," as in "to serve and protect," a police sergeant's job. Remember that sergeant is spelled with an "e" after the "s" (it's often misspelled with an "a").

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sergeant sergeants

“We make sure that their drone cannot hear its operators,” said a sergeant at the workshop.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

While Nicola, a former Police Scotland sergeant, accepts the final judgement, she says only she could truly decide when she could achieve a sense of closure.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

The following day, police sergeant Sidney Short served him with a summons.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026

Other times, a sergeant holds a personal grudge, or the officers on your cellblock simply don’t like you.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

Baba puts up his hand like a police sergeant.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

“Every day witnessed the promotion of sergeants or even corporals to company and battalion commanders.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

A department spokesperson said 14 officers and two sergeants have been barred from having public contact and assigned to administrative duties.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026

The Americans killed in the Palmyra attack last weekend were Iowa National Guard sergeants William Howard and Edgar Torres Tovar, and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a civilian from Michigan who worked as an interpreter.

From Barron's ● Dec. 20, 2025

Both are senior to police constables, sergeants and inspectors and below the rank of commander and assistant and deputy commissioners.

From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2025

The sergeants were polite but did not believe it.

From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway

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Related Words

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