Etymologically
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lieutenant

Etymology and origin of the French word lieutenant

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1260, Étienne Boileau, Livre des métiers (luetenant)
Ultimate origin
Latin (locus,teneō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ljøt.nɑ̃/[1]

Forms

lieutenant m (plural lieutenants, feminine lieutenante)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French lieu + tenant, from lieu “place” and the present participle of tenir, literally “one who holds the place of”, a substitute.[2][3][4][5][6][1]

Compare Old Occitan loctenent, Spanish lugarteniente and Italian luogotenente.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers (1260) has luetenant for the man immediately below a chief, who takes his place in certain cases.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

About 1470 Georges Chastellain has lieutenant général, the man to whom the sovereign delegates part of his authority, until the end of the Ancien Régime the holder of royal power in the king's absence.[2][3] From 1538 it was also the officer who presided over a seneschal's court in his absence, whence lieutenant civil and lieutenant criminel (1549).[2][3]

In the army it named a rank in 1478 (lieutenant général de l'artillerie); Furetière (1690) speaks of the lieutenant de la compagnie, and the modern rank is that of the junior officer below a captain.[2][3] In the navy a lieutenant de vaisseau corresponds to a captain in the army.[3] It is shortened lieut' (1960).[3]

Timeline

  • 1260 – Luetenant, Étienne Boileau.[2]
  • c. 1470 – Lieutenant général, Georges Chastellain.[2]
  • 1478 – A military rank.[2][3]
  • 1479 – Sous-lieutenant.[3]
  • 1549 – Lieutenant civil, lieutenant criminel.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A deputy, second-in-command: les lieutenants de César; a right-hand man.[8][1]
  2. (military) A lieutenant, an officer below a captain, (navy) lieutenant de vaisseau.[3][1]
  3. (history) Under the Ancien Régime, an officer standing in for a superior: lieutenant général du royaume, lieutenant criminel.[8][2]

Word family

  • lieutenance
  • lieutenante
  • sous-lieutenant
  • lieutenant-colonel
  • lieutenant-gouverneur

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 215b
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Lieutenant.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/lieutenant. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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