soldier
pronunciation
How to pronounce soldier in British English:
UK [ˈsəʊldʒə(r)]
How to pronounce soldier in American English:
US [ˈsoʊldʒər]
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- Noun:
- an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
- a wingless sterile ant or termite having a large head and powerful jaws adapted for defending the colony
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- Verb:
- serve as a soldier in the military
Word Origin
- soldier
- soldier: [13] The etymological idea underlying the word soldier is the ‘pay’ received by mercenary soldiers. It was borrowed from Old French soudier or soldier, a derivative of soulde ‘pay’. This in turn went back to Latin solidus, a term used for an ancient Roman gold coin; it was short for nummus solidus, literally ‘solid coin’.=> solid
- soldier (n.)
- c. 1300, souder, from Old French soudier, soldier "one who serves in the army for pay," from Medieval Latin soldarius "a soldier" (source also of Spanish soldado, Italian soldato), literally "one having pay," from Late Latin soldum, extended sense of accusative of Latin solidus, name of a Roman gold coin (see solidus). The -l- has been regular in English since mid-14c., in imitation of Latin. Willie and Joe always say sojer in the Bill Mauldin cartoons, and this seems to mirror 16c.-17c. spellings sojar, soger, sojour. Modern French soldat is borrowed from Italian and displaced the older French word; one of many military (and other) terms picked up during the Italian Wars in early 16c.; such as alert, arsenal, colonel, infantrie, sentinel. Old slang names for military men circa early 19c. include mud-crusher "infantryman," cat-shooter "volunteer," fly-slicer "cavalryman," jolly gravel-grinder "marine."
- soldier (v.)
- "to serve as a soldier," 1640s, from soldier (n.). Related: Soldiered; soldiering. To soldier on "persist doggedly" is attested from 1954.
Example
- 1. But no coalition soldier is at risk .
- 2. Only then did I recognize her as a beautiful soldier I knew during the war .
- 3. He said at least one soldier has been killed and three wounded in the clashes .
- 4. The soldier dates the tape at 14 july .
- 5. That amounts to a major economic conquest without using a single soldier .