lieutenant

Plurallieutenants

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A commissioned officer of junior rank in an army, air force, or marine corps, ranking below a captain.

   The Air Force lieutenant was put in charge of the base's aircraft maintenance flight.

   As a lieutenant in the Marine Corps, he served as executive officer of a rifle company.

   UsageBritish English says lef-TEN-ant; American English says loo-TEN-ant. As a title it takes a capital: Lieutenant Diaz.

   Note

   In the US forces the rank is officially first lieutenant, one step above second lieutenant, but in ordinary use both are simply called lieutenant. An officer at this level in the Army or Marine Corps typically leads a platoon or serves as a company's executive officer, the captain's second-in-command. Where precision matters, the full titles keep the two ranks apart.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A deputy or chief assistant who acts for a leader or carries out their orders.

   While the expedition leader rested at base camp, her lieutenant took the climbers up to the next ridge.

   Every rebel cell had a leader and a lieutenant who would take over if the leader was captured.

   Similardeputy, second-in-command

   Note

   Here the word's origin is still in plain view. Old French lieu, “place”, and tenant, “holder”, make a lieutenant someone who holds another's place, and in Anglo-Norman it already meant a deputy. The Latin phrase locum tenens is built the same way from the same roots. A second-in-command is exactly that: the one who stands in the leader's place when the leader is absent. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • Lieutenant derives from Old French lieu, meaning place, and tenant, meaning holder. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Anglo-Norman predecessor already meant deputy. en.wiktionary.org
   • Latin locum tenens has the same literal construction and shares the roots of lieutenant. en.wiktionary.org
   • The place-holding interpretation refers to acting for an absent superior. en.wikipedia.org
3. 3
   adjective

   Placed before a military rank to name a grade junior to that rank, as in lieutenant colonel, lieutenant general, and lieutenant commander.

   After twenty years of service, she was promoted to lieutenant commander.

   The lieutenant general's staff included two colonels and a dozen junior officers.

   UsageA lieutenant colonel ranks just below a colonel; it is not a kind of lieutenant.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A commissioned officer in a navy, coast guard, or similar service, ranking below lieutenant commander and above lieutenant junior grade (US) or sub-lieutenant (UK).

   The lieutenant served as navigator aboard the destroyer during its Pacific deployment.

   Two lieutenants from the Coast Guard station boarded the fishing boat to inspect its catch.

   Note

   The naval rank sits a step higher than the army lieutenant: a Navy lieutenant ranks with an Army or Marine Corps captain, and a lieutenant junior grade with a first lieutenant. The Coast Guard and the other uniformed services that use naval ranks line up the same way, so the same word can name two different levels depending on the uniform. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • A naval lieutenant ranks one grade above an army first lieutenant. govinfo.gov
   • A US Navy lieutenant is equivalent to an Army or Marine Corps captain. en.wikipedia.org
   • A lieutenant junior grade is equivalent to an Army or Marine Corps first lieutenant. govinfo.gov
   • The Coast Guard and NOAA Corps follow the same lieutenant and lieutenant junior grade equivalences. govinfo.gov
   • The Public Health Service Commissioned Corps likewise uses lieutenant at O-3 and lieutenant junior grade at O-2. hr.nih.gov
   • Lieutenant can denote different grades in naval and army rank systems. en.wikipedia.org
5. 5
   nouncountable

   A member of a police force or fire department holding an officer's rank beneath that of captain.

   The lieutenant sent two engine crews to the burning warehouse and called for more water.

   Detectives in the homicide unit answer to a lieutenant, who in turn answers to the precinct captain.

   Note

   Police and fire services borrowed their ladder of ranks from the army, so the lieutenant sits just under the captain here too, as in the army rank. The word itself fits the job: it comes through French from lieu, "place", and tenant, "holder", one who holds the place of a superior. When the service is not obvious, English names it first: a police lieutenant, a fire lieutenant.

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