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

The governor and lieutenant governor do not run on a joint ticket in the state.

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Longtime lieutenant Gunnar Wiedenfels would helm Discovery Global, made up of the firm’s international businesses and basic cable channels, which face an uncertain future in the streaming era.

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Mr. Xi and his lieutenants plan for outcomes in decades, not election cycles.

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Or it could be a "smash and grab situation", he notes, where they attempt to seize Maduro or some of his lieutenants and bring them to justice in the US.

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"I know it's tempting to write the bubble story," Mr Altman told me as he sat flanked by his top lieutenants.

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