Etymologically
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soldier

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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

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