veteran

See also: Veteran, veterán, and vétéran

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French vétéran, from Latin veterānus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɛ.tə.ɹən/, /ˈvɛ.tɹən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  • (US) IPA^(key): [ˈvɛ.t̬ə.ɹən], [ˈvɛ.ɾə.ɹən]

Noun

veteran (plural veterans)

2. A person with long experience of a particular activity.

   Synonyms: old hand, old-timer, warhorse

   Hypernym: person

   The company's new hires were nervous, but the veterans were self-assured because, as one summarized it, "this isn't our first rodeo."

   • 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist‎^[1], volume 407, number 8841, archived from the original on 25 November 2020, page 70:

     Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. […] Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.

   2. A person who has served in the armed forces, especially an old soldier who has seen long service.

      Hypernym: person

      Hyponym: war veteran (to distinguish from veterans who served entirely during peacetime)

      Coordinate term: servicemember

      We honor veterans and senior citizens with a ten percent discount.

      • 2025 June 24, Juliana Kim, “Purple Heart Army veteran self-deports after nearly 50 years in the U.S.”, in NPR‎^[2]:

        For 55-year-old U.S. Army veteran Sae Joon Park, this was the hardest moment of his life. […] Park's story reflects both the challenges of life after combat and the perils that noncitizen veterans face if caught in the legal system — realities made harsher amid the Trump administration's push for record deportations.

4. (figurative) A group, animal, etc. with long experience of a particular activity.

   Their mules were clearly veterans. They seemed to know what to do even better than the teenage farmhand who was driving the team.

   • 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 87:

     Most of the cars which we call "veterans" today were on view at the Motor Show of 1911.

   • 2018 April 1, Cristian Bonetto, Lonely Planet Pocket Copenhagen‎^[3], →ISBN, page 81:

     The label has often collaborated with other designers, like Australian shoemaker Teva and American woolwear veteran Pendleton.

Derived terms

• veteran car
• Veterans Day

Related terms

• VA
• VA
• VFW

Translations

person with long experience

• Bulgarian: ветеран (bg) m (veteran)
• Catalan: veterà m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 經驗豐富的人 / 经验丰富的人 (jīngyàn fēngfù de rén), 老手 (zh) (lǎoshǒu), 老將 / 老将 (zh) (lǎojiàng)

• Danish: veteran
• Dutch: veteraan (nl) m, oudgediende (nl) m or f
• Finnish: veteraani (fi), konkari (fi)
• French: vétéran (fr) m
• Galician: vedraño (gl) m
• Georgian: ვეტერანი (veṭerani)
• German: Veteran (de) m
• Greek: βετεράνος (el) m (veterános), παλαίμαχος (el) m (palaímachos)
• Hebrew: וָתִיק (he) m (vatíq)
• Hungarian: obsitos (hu)
• Ido: veterano (io)
• Irish: ársa m
• Italian: veterano (it)
• Japanese: ベテラン (ja) (beteran)
• Korean: 베테랑 (ko) (beterang)
• Persian: کهنه‌کار (kohne-kâr), کارکشته (fa) (kâr-košte)
• Polish: weteran (pl) m, weteranka f
• Portuguese: veterano (pt) m
• Russian: ветера́н (ru) m (veterán)
• Spanish: veterano m, lobo de mar m (sailor, colloquial)
• Sranan Tongo: stonfutu
• Swahili: mkale (sw)
• Swedish: veteran (sv) c
• Yakut: бэтэрээн (betereen)

old soldier

• Arabic: مُحَارِب قَدِيم m (muḥārib qadīm)
• Armenian: վետերան (hy) (veteran)
• Azerbaijani: veteran (az), qazi
• Belarusian: ветэра́н m (vjeterán), вэтэра́н m (veterán)
• Bulgarian: ветера́н (bg) m (veterán)
• Catalan: veterà m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 老兵 (zh) (lǎobīng), 老將 / 老将 (zh) (lǎojiàng), 退伍軍人 / 退伍军人 (zh) (tuìwǔ jūnrén)

• Czech: veterán (cs)
• Danish: veteran
• Dutch: veteraan (nl) m, oud-strijder (nl) m
• Finnish: sotaveteraani (fi), veteraani (fi)
• French: vétéran (fr) m; war veteran: ancien combattant (fr) m, ancien soldat m
• Galician: veterano m
• Georgian: ვეტერანი (veṭerani)
• German: Veteran (de) m, Kriegsveteran (de) m
• Greek: βετεράνος (el) m (veterános), παλαίμαχος (el) m (palaímachos)
• Irish: ársa m
• Italian: veterano (it) m, reduce (it) m or f
• Japanese: 退役軍人 (たいえきぐんじん, taieki gunjin), 老兵 (ja) (ろうへい, rōhei)
• Korean: 퇴역 군인 (toeyeok gunin), 노병 (nobyeong), 로병 (robyeong) (North Korea)
• Latin: ēmeritus m
• Macedonian: ветеран m (veteran)
• Maori: pāraeroa, ika a Whiro
• Maranao: minangolod
• Navajo: siláołtsooí nilį́į́ ńtʼę́ʼę́ę, naazbaaʼí, siláołtsooídę́ę́ʼ nádzá
• Persian: کهنه‌سرباز (kohne-sarbâz)
• Polish: weteran (pl) m, weteranka f
• Portuguese: veterano (pt) m
• Russian: ветера́н (ru) m (veterán)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ветѐра̄н m

  Roman: vetèrān (sh) m

• Slovak: veterán m
• Slovene: veteran m
• Spanish: veterano m
• Swedish: veteran (sv) c
• Ukrainian: ветера́н m (veterán)
• Vietnamese: cựu binh, lính cũ
• Yakut: бэтэрээн (betereen)

Adjective

veteran (not comparable)

1. Having had long experience, practice, or service.
   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter IV, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     The insinuating eloquence and delicate flattery of veteran diplomatists and courtiers.

   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎^[4]:

     Nothing could be more business-like than the construction of the stout dams, and nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old forest trees marshalled round their margins like a veteran army that had marched down to drink, only to be stricken motionless at the water’s edge.

   • 1980, Stephen King, The Mist, Viking Press:

     “That was in Casco,” his wife contradicted immediately. She spoke in the unmistakable tones of a veteran contradictor.

2. Of or relating to former members of the military armed forces, especially those who served during wartime.

Related terms

• inveterate

Translations

with long experience

• Bulgarian: опитен (bg) (opiten)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 经验丰富的

• Danish: erfaren (da)
• Dutch: ervaren (nl)
• Galician: veterano m
• Georgian: ვეტერანი (veṭerani), გამოცდილი (gamocdili), გამორძმედილი (gamorʒmedili)
• Irish: ársa
• Ottoman Turkish: اسكی (eski)
• Persian: کارکشته (fa) (kâr-košte), کهنه‌کار (kohne-kâr)
• Portuguese: veterano (pt)
• Spanish: veterano, aguerrido (es)
• Swedish: veteran-, erfaren (sv)

related to former members of armed forces

• Bulgarian: ветерански (veteranski)
• Danish: veteran-
• Dutch: veteranen- (nl)
• Galician: veterano m
• Portuguese: veterano (pt)
• Spanish: retirado (es)
• Swedish: veteran-

Anagrams

• Neretva, Trevena, aventre, nervate, vernate

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin veterānus (“old, veteran”), from vetus (“aged, ancient, old”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vetəraːn/, [vetˢəˈʁɑːˀn]

Noun

veteran c (singular definite veteranen, plural indefinite veteraner)

1. veteran

Declension

Declension of veteran

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	veteran	veteranen	veteraner	veteranerne
genitive	veterans	veteranens	veteraners	veteranernes

Derived terms

• krigsveteran c
• veteranbane c
• veteranbil c
• veteranfly n
• veteranlokomotiv n

Further reading

• “veteran” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “veteran” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Esperanto

Adjective

veteran

1. accusative singular of vetera

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin veterānus.

Noun

veteran m (definite singular veteranen, indefinite plural veteraner, definite plural veteranene)

1. veteran

Derived terms

• krigsveteran
• veteranbil

References

• “veteran” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin veterānus.

Noun

veteran m (definite singular veteranen, indefinite plural veteranar, definite plural veteranane)

1. veteran

Derived terms

• krigsveteran
• veteranbil

References

• “veteran” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Piedmontese

Noun

veteran m (plural veteran)

1. veteran

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vétéran, Latin veterānus. Compare bătrân, a doublet inherited from the same source.

Noun

veteran m (plural veterani)

1. veteran (person who has served in the armed forces, or figuratively a person with a long experience of a particular activity; also used in the context of Ancient Rome, referring to a freed soldier granted citizenship and privileges for his service)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin veterānus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋetěraːn/
• Hyphenation: ve‧te‧ran

Noun

vetèrān m anim (Cyrillic spelling ветѐра̄н)

1. veteran

Declension

Declension of veteran

	singular	plural
nominative	vetèrān	veterani
genitive	veterána	veterana
dative	veteranu	veteranima
accusative	veterana	veterane
vocative	veterane	veterani
locative	veteranu	veteranima
instrumental	veteranom	veteranima

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin veterānus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɛtɛˈrɑːn/

Noun

veteran c

1. a veteran (former member of armed forces)
2. a veteran (person with long experience)

Declension

Declension of veteran

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	veteran	veterans
	definite	veteranen	veteranens
plural	indefinite	veteraner	veteraners
	definite	veteranerna	veteranernas

Derived terms

• krigsveteran
• veteranbil

References

• veteran in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker