quartermaster

[kwawr-ter-mas-ter, -mah-ster]

noun

1. Military.,  an officer charged with providing quarters, clothing, fuel, transportation, etc., for a body of troops.

2. Navy.,  a petty officer having charge of signals, navigating apparatus, etc.

quartermaster

/ ˈkwɔːtəˌmɑːstə /

noun

1. an officer responsible for accommodation, food, and equipment in a military unit

2. a rating in the navy, usually a petty officer, with particular responsibility for steering a ship and other navigational duties

Other Word Forms

• quartermasterlike adjective
• quartermastership noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of quartermaster¹

First recorded in 1400–50, quartermaster is from late Middle English quarter maister. See quarter, master

Example Sentences

The Times flicked it away as a joke, and reported dutifully — the paper’s owner was a Civil War veteran — that there was no truth to the rumor of a grudge against the quartermaster, Major J.B.

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He was one of about 150,000 allied troops who took part in the Normandy Landings on 6 June 1944 - serving as a quartermaster on a minesweeper.

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Maybe the most mythologized event of Los Angeles’ Civil War happened behind closed doors in the Army quartermaster’s brick home at 3rd and Main streets, perhaps in early to mid-June 1861.

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Conter, a quartermaster, was lauded for helping rescue fellow crew members during the attack, according to the Pacific Historic Parks post.

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Conter was a quartermaster, standing on the main deck of the Arizona as Japanese planes flew overhead at 7:55 a.m. on Dec. 7 that year.

Read more on Seattle Times