by Todd DePastino
Almost all the words we use when talking about the military derive from the French language.
From attack, bastion, battalion, bomb, and brigade to soldier, troop, trench, valor, and war, French is de rigeur when discussing all things related to the Army (from armée), Navy (from navie), Air (from air) Force (from force), Marines (from marin), Coast (from coste) Guard (from garde).
Even military and veteran are old French terms.
It all began with the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, which brought French into rivalry with Old English, the language of pre-Norman England. French became the language of the ruling class, government administration, and the military.
Under King Louis XIV (1643-1715), France developed Europe’s largest land army and used it to wield influence across the continent. New developments in military organization and weaponry created new words: bivouac, brigadier, cadet, corps, patrol, and detachment, among many others.
French became the international diplomatic language—lingua franca—so that even when France lost a war, the treaty was inscribed in its language.
It’s no surprise, then, that our military ranks come to us from French, mostly as a pass-through from Latin.
Here’s a brief etymology of the major US Army ranks, plus one rank the Army didn’t adopt, which comes from Old German, rather than French.
Private
From the Latin privatus, meaning “withdrawn from public life” or “ordinary citizen.” It later came to refer to a common soldier in the 16th century. As armies were becoming larger and more professionalized, the term private soldier began to emerge to describe enlisted men who were not officers or specialists. Randle Cotgrave, A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues (1611): “Privé-soldat: A private souldier, one that serves for pay, but without command.”
Corporal
From the Latin corpus, meaning “body.” Old Italian used caporale (head of a small body of soldiers), and later Middle French corporal.
Sergeant
From the Latin servus, meaning “servant” or “slave.” Old French derived sergent from it, which denoted a servant or attendant in a feudal context before becoming a military rank.
Lieutenant
From Old French lieu, meaning place, and Old French tenant, meaning holding or possessor. “Lieu-tenant,” then, literally means “placeholder,” “deputy,” or “one who takes the place of another.” The general idea of a lieutenant is a substitute for a high authority.
Specifically, 16th century Anglo-French used the term to refer to an “army officer next in rank to a captain and commanding the company in his absence.”
For some unknown reason, Americans pronounce the word “loo-tenant,” while the British pronounce it “lef-tenant.” How the British snuck an “f” sound is a mystery, but we know they did it a long time ago, as far back as the 1300s. One leading theory is that old printed matter confused u and v and, over time, “lev-tenant” became “lef-tenant.”
Captain
From the Latin capitaneus, meaning chief or leader, which, in turn, is derived from caput, meaning head. Captain entered English through the Old French word capitain.
Major
From the Latin maior, meaning greater or senior. As a military rank, it was first used in Sergeant Major, who was the “greater” of the Sergeants. The English word mayor is a cognate.
Colonel
From the Italian colonnello (leader of a column), via French colonel. The English pronunciation reflects the Spanish coronel, from the Spanish word for crown, corona.
General
From the Latin generalis, meaning general, universal, prevailing. Old French word general, referred to a leader with broad authority. The rank began as a modifier for other “ Captian General” or” Colonel General” or “Sergeant Major General,” indicating officers with overall command.
Marshal
This is the one rank not derived from Latin and then passed into England through the French. Rather, marshall comes from Old High German marah, meaning horse, and schalh, meaning servant. French adapted the word as mareschal—literally, horse servant. The term did enter US nomenclature through the US Marshals Service, the first US law enforcement agency created by Congress in 1789. Otherwise, the US doesn’t use the term for its military ranks.
