American version of lieutenant . Thank you in anticipation of your assistance. A lieutentant acted in place of his immediate supervisor. Lieutenant was sometimes spelled with an f as far back as the 14th century, indicating that the British pronunciation is quite old. It is thought that such pronunciation was influenced by the word leave , perhaps as a lieutenant 's superior had to leave before the lieutenant could serve his purpose.
Some cognates are lieu, local , and tenant .
While writing up observe this week, we noticed that it is an anagram of obverse . Despite the usage of many modern speakers, obverse is not a fancy name for reverse. Quite the reverse, in fact.