aide-de-camp
Americannoun
plural
aides-de-campnoun
Etymology
Origin of aide-de-camp
Explanation
An aide-de-camp is a military officer who assists another officer with more seniority. An aide-de-camp is a military assistant. Many English words come from the military, and many others come from French. This word comes from both, as it's a French term for a military assistant. Just like assistants in other fields, the aide-de-camp will provide the senior officer with whatever is needed. This term also gets a fair amount of work as a general term for an assistant to a powerful person in any organization. Any supervisor or leader may have an aide-de-camp who helps them out.
Vocabulary lists containing aide-de-camp
All the Light We Cannot See
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French Terms Used in English
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Anna Karenina
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sam Dalrymple has real Raj pedigree, his paternal grandfather being Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple, the aide-de-camp to Frank Messervy, the first commander in chief of the army of independent Pakistan.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
They were called to testify at Police headquarters in Brasilia, along with Bolsonaro's former aide-de-camp Mauro Cid, his father, a retired army general, and another military officer that was a presidential aide.
From Reuters • Aug. 31, 2023
He was aide-de-camp to the ousted leader's father, Omar Bongo, who ruled for almost 42 years until his death in 2009.
From BBC • Aug. 30, 2023
Randolph was well-known to Washington; in fact, he was Washington's former aide-de-camp and his lawyer, as well as lawyer to other prominent Virginians.
From Salon • May 20, 2023
Minutes later, the aide-de-camp flings open the shutters of an upstairs window and gazes a moment across the rooftops before unfurling a crimson flag over the brick and securing its eyelets to the sill.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
