soldier
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: note: r
enpr: sōlʹjə
note: r
enpr: sŏlʹjə
ipa: /ˈsəʊld͡ʒə/
ipa: /ˈsɒld͡ʒə/
enpr: sōlʹjər
ipa: /ˈsoʊld͡ʒɚ/
rhymes: -əʊldʒə(ɹ)
rhymes: -ɒldʒə(ɹ)
Forms: form: soldiers
form: soldior
form: soldiour
form: souldier
form: souldior
form: souldiour
Etymology: Inherited from Middle English soudeour, from Old French soudier or soudeour (“mercenary”), from Medieval Latin soldarius (“soldier (one having pay)”), from Late Latin solidus, a type of coin. Displaced Old English cempa (whence obsolete kemp).
(red herring): An allusion to soldiers' red uniforms; red herring is, reciprocally, a slang term for "soldier".
Senses: examples: text: My friends and I saw a soldier questioning a man holding a bag with a gun in his pocket.
text: The Citizens in their rage, imagining that euery poſt in the Churche had bin one of yᵉ Souldyers, ſhot habbe or nabbe at randon uppe to the Roode lofte, and to the Chancell, leauing ſome of theyr arrowes ſticking in the Images.
ref: 1577, Raphaell Holinshed; Richarde Stanyhurst [i.e., Richard Stanihurst], “[The Historie of Irelande […].] The Thirde Booke of the Historie of Ireland, Comprising the Raigne of Henry the Eyght: ….”, in The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Hunne, →OCLC, pages 77–78, column 2:
text: I am a soldier and unapt to weep.
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
text: Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile ; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.
ref: 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
text: Stanning, who was commissioned from Sandhurst in 2008 and has served in Afghanistan, is not the first soldier to bail out the organisers at these Games but will be among the most celebrated.
ref: 2012 August 1, Owen Gibson, London 2012: rowers Glover and Stanning win Team GB's first gold medal, Guardian Unlimited:
synonyms: grunt
sweat
old sweat
Tommy
glosses: A member of a ground-based army, of any rank, but especially an enlisted member.
glosses: Any member of a military, regardless of specialty.
examples: text: She saw a soldier while collecting her baggage at the airport.
text: It were meet that any one, before he came to be a captain, should have been a soldier.
ref: 1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:
glosses: An enlisted member of a military service, as distinguished from a commissioned officer.
glosses: A guardsman.
glosses: A member of the Salvation Army.
glosses: A low-ranking gangster or member of a gang, especially the mafia, who engages in physical conflict.
examples: text: Beside his egg was a plate of buttered toast, already cut up into soldiers.
ref: 2008, Nicholas Drayson, A Guide to the Birds of East Africa, page 180:
glosses: A piece of buttered bread (or toast), cut into a long thin strip for dipping into a soft-boiled egg.
glosses: A term of approbation for a young boy.
examples: text: [L]et 'em know how important it is to have Runyon Avenue soldiers up in our corners; their loyalty to us is worth more than any award is.
ref: 2004, “Like Toy Soldiers”, in Encore, performed by Eminem, Shady Records:
glosses: Someone who fights or toils well.
glosses: A red or cuckoo gurnard (Chelidonichthys cuculus).
glosses: One of the asexual polymorphic forms of termites, in which the head and jaws are very large and strong. The soldiers serve to defend the nest.
glosses: A red herring (cured kipper with flesh turned red).
topics: board-games
games
xiangqi
glosses: A xiangqi piece that moves and captures by advancing one point. Once it has crossed the river, it may also move and capture one point horizontally.
glosses: A brick, for example in a course of brickwork, that is laid vertically on its shortest end (smallest face), so that its tallest and slimmest face faces the outside of the wall.
Synonyms: word: digger
word: dogface
word: doughboy
word: GI
word: ground pounder
word: grunt
word: jarhead
word: jawan
word: lobster
word: Old Bill
word: old sweat
word: regular
word: serviceman
word: serviceperson
word: servicewoman
word: soldier
word: squaddie
word: sweat
word: tirailleur
word: Tommy
word: Tommy Atkins
word: trooper
word: warrior
Hypernyms: word: combatant
word: militant
word: person
Hyponyms: word: archer
word: artilleryman
word: askari
word: bluecoat
word: bombardier
word: bowman
word: brigadier
word: buffalo soldier
word: cadet
word: campaigner
word: cannoneer
word: captain
word: carabineer
word: cavalryman
word: centurion
word: cipaye
word: colonel
word: cuirassier
word: dog soldier
word: dragoon
word: enlisted man
word: foot soldier
word: fusilier
word: gallowglass
word: general
word: grenadier
word: grognard
word: guard
word: guardsman
word: guerrilla
word: gunner
word: hajduk
word: halberdier
word: hoplite
word: horse soldier
word: hussar
word: infanteer
word: infantryman
word: jaeger
word: janissary
word: knight
word: lancer
word: legionary
word: legionnaire
word: lieutenant
word: major
word: mameluke
word: man-at-arms
word: marine
word: marshal
word: mercenary
word: musketeer
word: myrmidon
word: officer
word: orderly
word: pikeman
word: private
word: recruit
word: redcoat
word: rifleman
word: sapper
word: sentry
word: sepoy
word: spahi
word: spearman
word: subaltern
word: swordsman
word: tiro
word: topaz
word: uhlan
word: veteran
word: weekend warrior
word: yeoman
word: Zouave
Derived terms: word: armored soldier
word: buffalo soldier
word: Canadian soldier
word: child soldier
word: chocolate soldier
word: Christian soldier
word: come the old soldier
word: dead soldier
word: dog soldier
word: foot soldier
word: freshwater soldier
word: horse soldier
word: old soldier
word: plague soldier beetle
word: sea soldier
word: shaggy soldier
word: soldier beetle
word: soldier crab
word: soldier fly
word: soldier-girl
word: soldier-like
word: soldierlike
word: soldierly
word: soldier of misfortune
word: soldier-proof
word: soldier river barb
word: soldier thistle
word: straight as a soldier
word: summer soldier
word: tin soldier
taxonomic: Stratiotes aloides
word: water soldier
Related terms: word: battle buddy
word: brother-in-arms
word: comrade in arms
word: :Category:Military ranks