From TheBestLinks.com
A Lieutenant is a military or paramilitary officer. The word lieutenant derives from French; the lieu meaning "place" as in a position or territory; and tenant meaning "holding" as in "holding a position". The British monarch's representative in Ireland and in the counties of the United Kingdom was/is called the Lord-Lieutenant. In French history, "lieutenant du roi" was a title borne by the officer sent with military powers to represent the king in certain provinces. It is in the sense of a deputy that it has entered into the names of more senior officers, Lieutenant General, Lieutenant Colonel, and Lieutenant Commander.
Pronunciation
The word is pronounced loo-tenant in American English and usually lef-tenant in British English. The Royal Navy, however, traditionally pronounce the word as l'tenant which is a closer anglicised approximation of the original French. In Canada, lef-tenant is standard for all branches of the Armed Forces and for other usages such as lieutenant governor. The British pronunciation is prevalent during 14th and 15th centuries with the word being variously spelled as lieftenant, lyeftenant or luftenant. It may have originated from a mistaken reading of the 'u' as a 'v', lev-tenant eventually becoming lef-tenant. It has also been speculated that it may have come from a fanciful etymology which associated it with the verb 'to leave', as the lieutenant only took up his duties once his superior officer had 'left'. Another theory comes from the fact that in typical propriety the person or persons standing to the rear-left of a gentleman held power and were typically those directly second to him. The person or persons standing to the rear-right were considered to have no or less standing than those to the rear-left, such as aides, bodyguards, wives, etc,. often holding this position for simple facility rather than societal importance. This tradition remains in military parades, with lieutenants standing to the rear-left of the commanding officer (when facing the advance.)
Duties and rankings
Originally, this was generally applied to what we today call just plain Lieutenant, who was taking the place of the Captain, who was the officer who actually raised the company of soldiers. The Lieutenant's job was to lead the soldiers into battle so that the Captain would not have to.
Most militaries have two types of Lieutenant:
Sometimes the rank of Third Lieutenant is used, typically as a cadet or temporary rank indicating that the holder is a commissioned officer in the chain of command—barely.
Note that a naval Lieutenant and Royal Air Force (UK) Flight Lieutenant are equivalent in rank to an army Captain, and a naval Lieutenant, Junior Grade (US) or Sub-Lieutenant (UK) is equivalent in rank to an army First Lieutenant. In the US Navy, a Lieutenant is a senior division officer on a ship, or a ship's department head.
See also
de:Oberleutnant
fa:ستوان
Related links
Top visited
0 of
0 links
[no links posted yet]
>> place link >>
Discussion
Last posted
0 of
0 messages
[no messages posted yet]
>> post message >>
Watch
You can
add this article to your own "watchlist" and receive e-mail notification about all changes in this page.
