sergeant

See also: Sergeant

English

Alternative forms

• serjant (obsolete)
• sergeaunt (obsolete)
• serjeant (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English sergeant, sergeaunt, serjent, serjaunt, serjawnt, sergant, from Old French sergeant, sergent, serjant, sergient, sergant (“sergeant, servant”), from Medieval Latin servientem, accusative of serviens (“a servant, vassal, soldier, apparitor”), from Latin serviēns (“serving”), present participle of serviō (“serve, be a slave to”). Doublet of servant and servient.

The fish is so called because of its stripes, supposed to resemble a sergeant's insignia of rank.

For the "er" being pronounced /ɑɹ/, see also clerk, derby, varsity.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑː.dʒənt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑɹ.dʒənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)dʒənt

Noun

sergeant (plural sergeants)

1. (military) UK army rank with NATO code OR-6, senior to corporal and junior to warrant officer ranks.
2. The highest rank of noncommissioned officer in some non-naval military forces and police.
   • 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 13, in Well Tackled!‎^[1]:

     “Yes, there are two distinct sets of footprints, both wearing rubber shoes—one I think ordinary plimsolls, the other goloshes,” replied the sergeant.

3. (law, historical) A lawyer of the highest rank, equivalent to the doctor of civil law.
   • 1765, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, book I (Of the Rights of Persons), Oxford: […] Clarendon Press, OCLC 65350522:

     All other sergeants and barristers indiscriminately (except in the Court of Common Pleas, where only sergeants are admitted) may take upon them the protection and defense of any suitors.

4. (Britain, historical) A title sometimes given to the servants of the sovereign.

   sergeant surgeon, i.e. a servant, or attendant, surgeon

5. A fish, the cobia.
6. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the of the genus Athyma; distinguished from the false sergeants.
7. A bailiff.
8. A servant in monastic offices.

Related terms

• sergeant baker
• sarge

Translations

non-commissioned officer rank

• Afrikaans: sersant
• Albanian: rreshter (sq) m
• Arabic: رَقِيب‎ m (raqīb), عَرِيف‎ m (ʿarīf)
• Armenian: սերժանտ (hy) (seržant)
• Azerbaijani: çavuş (az), serjant (az)
• Belarusian: сяржа́нт m (sjaržánt)
• Bengali: সার্জেণ্ট (śarjenṭ)
• Bulgarian: сержа́нт m (seržánt)
• Burmese: ဆာဂျင် (my) (hcagyang), စာသင် (my) (casang) (police, obsolete)
• Catalan: sergent (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 軍士 (zh), 军士 (zh) (jūnshì), 警官 (zh) (jǐngguān), (police sergeant, in Hong Kong) 沙展 (shāzhǎn)

• Czech: četař (cs) m
• Danish: sergent c
• Dutch: sergeant (nl) m
• Esperanto: serĝento
• Estonian: seersant
• Finnish: kersantti (fi)
• French: sergent (fr)
• Galician: sarxento (gl) m
• Georgian: სერჟანტი (seržanṭi)
• German: Stabsunteroffizier (de)
• Greek: λοχίας (el) m or f (lochías), αρχιφύλακας (el) (archifýlakas) (police rank)
• Hebrew: סָמַל‎ (he) m (samál)
• Hindi: सार्जण्ट (hi) m (sārjaṇṭ), हवलदार (hi) m (havaldār) (police), सारजंट (hi) m (sārjaṇṭ), सार्जंट (hi) m (sārjaṇṭ), हवालदार (hi) m (havāldār), जमादार (hi) m (jamādār), दफादार (hi) m (daphādār)
• Hungarian: őrmester (hu), (first class) szakaszvezető (hu)
• Icelandic: liðþjálfi (is) m
• Indonesian: sersan (id)
• Irish: sáirsint m
• Italian: sergente (it)

• Japanese: 軍曹 (ja) (ぐんそう, gunsō)
• Kazakh: сержант (serjant)
• Korean: 중사 (ko) (jungsa)
• Kyrgyz: сержант (sercant)
• Latvian: seržants m
• Lithuanian: seržantas m
• Macedonian: водник m (vodnik), наредник m (narednik)
• Malay: sarjan
• Maori: haihana
• Mongolian: түрүүч (mn) (türüüch)
• Norman: sèrgent m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sersjant m

  Nynorsk: sersjant m

• Persian: گروهبان‎ (fa) (goruhbân)
• Polish: sierżant (pl) m
• Portuguese: sargento (pt)
• Romanian: sergent (ro) m
• Russian: сержа́нт (ru) m (seržánt)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: на́реднӣк m, на́редница f, во̏днӣк m

  Roman: narednik (sh) m, narednica (sh) f, vȍdnīk (sh) m

• Slovak: čatár m
• Slovene: vódnik m, vódnica f
• Spanish: sargento (es) m
• Swedish: sergeant (sv)
• Tajik: сержант (seržant), гурӯҳбон (gurühbon)
• Thai: จ่า (th) (jàa), สิบเอก (th) (sìp-èek)
• Turkish: çavuş (tr)
• Turkmen: seržant
• Ukrainian: сержа́нт m (seržánt)
• Urdu: سارجنٹ‎ m (sārjanṭ)
• Uzbek: serjant (uz)
• Vietnamese: trung sĩ (vi)
• Yiddish: סערזשאַנט‎ m (serzhant)

Anagrams

• angerest, enragest, estrange, grantees, greatens, negaters, reagents, rentages, reägents, seargent, segreant, sternage

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Dutch

Alternative forms

• sergant (obsolete)
• sergent (obsolete)
• serjant (obsolete)
• sersjant (archaic, informal)

Etymology

From Middle Dutch seriant, from Old French sergent, from Latin serviēns. The current spelling is influenced by English sergeant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛrˈʒɑnt/
• Hyphenation: ser‧geant
• Rhymes: -ɑnt

Noun

sergeant m (plural sergeants or sergeanten, diminutive sergeantje n)

1. sergeant (non-commissioned officer in several armed forces)

Usage notes

This rank is in use in the Dutch army, navy and air force, in the Belgian army and air force and in the Surinamese army.

Derived terms

• sergeant-majoor

Descendants

• Afrikaans: sersant
• → Indonesian: sersan
• → West Frisian: sersjant

See also

• meester
• wachtmeester