veteran

pronunciation

How to pronounce veteran in British English: UK [ˈvetərən] word uk audio image

How to pronounce veteran in American English: US [ˈvetərən] word us audio image

Noun:

a serviceman who has seen considerable active service
a person who has served in the armed forces
an experienced person who has been through many battles; someone who has given long service
Adjective:

rendered competent through trial and experience

Word Origin

veteran: veteran: [16] Veteran comes via French vétéran from Latin veterānus ‘old’. This was a derivative of vetus ‘old’, which is the ancestor of French vieux, Italian vecchio, and Spanish viejo. It went back ultimately to Indo-European *wetus- (source also of Latvian vecs ‘old’). This may be related to Greek étos ‘year’, in which case ‘old’ could derive from an ancestral meaning ‘full of years’.

veteran (n.): c. 1500, "old experienced soldier," from French vétéran, from Latin veteranus "old, aged, that has been long in use," especially of soldiers; as a plural noun, "old soldiers," from vetus (genitive veteris) "old, aged, advanced in years; of a former time," as a plural noun, vetores, "men of old, forefathers," from PIE *wet-es-, from root *wet- (2) "year" (cognates: Sanskrit vatsa- "year," Greek etos "year," Hittite witish "year," Old Church Slavonic vetuchu "old," Old Lithuanian vetušas "old, aged;" and compare wether). Latin vetus also is the ultimate source of Italian vecchio, French vieux, Spanish viejo. General sense of "one who has seen long service in any office or position" is attested from 1590s. The adjective first recorded 1610s.

adj.