sergeant
Americannoun
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a noncommissioned army officer of a rank above that of corporal.
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U.S. Air Force. any noncommissioned officer above the rank of airman first class.
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a police officer ranking immediately below a captain or a lieutenant in the U.S. and immediately below an inspector in Britain.
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a title of a particular office or function at the court of a monarch (often used in combination).
sergeant of the larder; sergeant-caterer.
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Also called sergeant at law. British. (formerly) a member of a superior order of barristers.
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(initial capital letter) a surface-to-surface, single-stage, U.S. ballistic missile.
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a tenant by military service, below the rank of knight.
noun
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a noncommissioned officer in certain armed forces, usually ranking above a corporal
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(in Britain) a police officer ranking between constable and inspector
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(in the US) a police officer ranking below a captain
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See sergeant at arms
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a court or municipal officer who has ceremonial duties
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(formerly) a tenant by military service, not of knightly rank
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See serjeant at law
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
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").
Vocabulary lists containing sergeant
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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.
See Examples For:
He served for six years in the Continental Army at Germantown, Valley Forge, Monmouth and Yorktown, eventually rising to the rank of sergeant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Goosebumps blossomed on my skin as Mexico’s head coach Javier Aguirre, he of a stern face and gray haircut worthy of a drill sergeant, beamed while singing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
Last but not least, Thomas references a case about a deceased Air Force sergeant in Beck v.
From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2026
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has released the wife of a US Army sergeant and Afghanistan veteran from detention, her lawyer confirmed to the BBC.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
“Ay!” returned the sergeant, “two. They’re pretty well known to be out on the marshes still, and they won’t try to get clear of ’em before dusk.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
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 police watchdog said that a former detective constable could face gross misconduct proceedings - relating to alleged failures to properly investigate - and that two former detective sergeants were being investigated for alleged misconduct.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 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
Its drill sergeants are on Cam and the rest of his new platoon like flies on dung from the moment they wake until they go to sleep.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2025
The sergeants were polite but did not believe it.
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
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.
