sergeant
Pluralsergeants
- 1A rank in the army, air force or police, above corporal and sometimes the highest of the lower ranks.
The sergeant told the new soldiers to stand in a straight line.
She worked as a police officer for ten years before she became a sergeant.
Note
- 2A bailiff, a person who works for a court and makes people follow its orders.
A sergeant of the court came to collect the money the shopkeeper owed.
The court's sergeant told the family they had to leave the house by Friday.
Similarbailiff
- 3A lawyer of the highest level, equal to someone with the top university degree in civil law.
Only a sergeant could speak for him in that old court.
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.
1765, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of EnglandHere, sergeants means lawyers of the highest rank.Note
- 4Any of several kinds of butterfly in the group Athyma.
A sergeant fluttered past us and landed on a leaf.
On our butterfly walk, we saw three different sergeants.
- 5A title that was sometimes given to people who served the king or queen.
He became sergeant surgeon to the king.
The royal household had a sergeant who looked after the king's wine.
Note
- 6A servant who did work for the monks in a monastery.
The monks had a sergeant to carry water and wood for the kitchen.
Two sergeants worked in the abbey's bakery.
Less common meaning
- 7A kind of fish called a damselfish, also known as the píntano.
Practice
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Origin
It came through French from the Latin word serviēns, meaning “serving”. It is related to the word servant.