soldier

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈsəʊl.dʒə/, US /ˈsoʊl.dʒɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English souder, soudiour, borrowed from Old French soudier, soldier (“one who serves in an army for pay”),^[2][3][4] from soulde “pay”,^[5][6] from Late Latin soldum, from Latin solidus, the name of a Roman gold coin,^[2][3] literally a coin of solid metal.^[2] Medieval Latin soldārius “soldier” was also a source.^[2][3] It is related to solid and solidus.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A man who serves in an army for pay: before 1300 in the OED and Barnhart, about 1300 in Etymonline.^[7][3][2] The word marked a fighter paid for service, at a time when many men fought in service to a feudal lord.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The spelling with -l- is from the mid-14th century, in imitation of Latin, but the old pronunciation survived in spellings such as sojer.^[2] One who fights for a cause, especially in religious language, is from 1340.^[7][2] A man of military skill is from 1603.^[7] The verb, to serve as a soldier, is from the 1640s (1647 in MWU),^[2][4] and in the 19th century, probably from sailors' language, it meant to shirk or work poorly.^[2] A toy soldier is from 1878, and a rank-and-file Mafia member from 1963.^[7] Soldier on is from 1954.^[2]

Timeline

• a. 1300 – a paid fighter.^[7]
• 1340 – a fighter for a cause.^[7]
• 1647 – verb.^[4]
• 1878 – a toy soldier.^[7]
• 1954 – soldier on.^[2]
• 1963 – a member of the Mafia.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who serves in an army.
2. An enlisted person rather than an officer.
3. An active and loyal follower of a cause.
4. In some ants and termites, a member with a large head and jaws that defends the colony.

Verb

1. To serve as a soldier.
2. soldier on: to keep going in spite of difficulties.

Word family

• soldierly
• soldiership
• soldierfish
• soldiery
• dead soldier
• buffalo soldier
• Canadian soldier
• chocolate soldier

Related words

• solid
• solidus
• sou

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin