солдат

Forms

солда́т (soldát) m anim (genitive солда́та, nominative plural солда́ты, genitive plural солда́т, relational adjective солда́тский, diminutive солда́тик, augmentative солда́тище, pejorative солдафо́н or солда́тишка, pejorative collective солдатня́ or солдатьё)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Soldat (borrowed from French soldat according to Chernykh and Shaposhnikov), from Italian soldato.^[2][3][4][5] The sources differ on the channel.^[2][4] Vasmer allows German, Dutch soldaat or French.^[2] Shansky, Krysin and Gardiner name German.^[6][3][7] Chernykh and Shaposhnikov name French, Chernykh because the word begins with /s/, not with the /z/ of German.^[4][5] Wiktionary derives it straight from Italian.^[1]

The Italian word is the past participle of the old Italian verb soldare (“to hire”), from soldo (“pay; a coin”), because soldiers served for pay.^[8][1][9] The French word was borrowed from Italian, and the German from French.^[8] The coin name goes back to Latin solidus (“solid”), the gold coin.^[9][1] Preobrazhensky derived the Russian word directly from the coin name.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Trubachev, citing Fogarasi, notes that the word is known from as early as 1515.^[2] Chernykh places it in common use from the first third of the 17th century, first for a hired foreign foot soldier: a tsar's instruction of 1632 to the voivodes Shein and Izmailov lists „наемные… немецкие люди… и солдаты, пешие люди” “hired German men and soldiers, foot men”.^[4] Shaposhnikov gives the early spelling салдатъ (1632, 1647).^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word is frequent in the Book on the Order of Battle of 1647, which also has the adjective салдацкии,^[4][5][10] and in Kotoshikhin.^[2] As a nickname it is recorded from 1643, for Yakov Soldat, a Don Cossack.^[11] Weismann's dictionary of 1731 has солдат, солдатка and солдатский.^[4][5] From a hired foreigner the soldier became the private of the Russian army, then any military man, and figuratively a staunch fighter for a cause.^[4][12] Zoologists call the big-headed defenders of an ant colony солдаты.^[13] The pejorative солдафон was perhaps formed under the influence of the name Агафон.^[2]

Russian lent the word to Tatar, Kazakh and Bashkir, and to Chuvash as салтак.^[1] Polish sołdat is used of a soldier of the tsarist army.^[4]

Timeline

• 1515 – earliest known record, according to Trubachev.^[2]
• 1632 – солдаты, hired foreign foot soldiers, in a tsar's instruction.^[4]
• 1643 – Солдатъ as a nickname.^[11]
• 1647 – салдатъ and салдацкии in the Book on the Order of Battle.^[5][4]
• 1731 – солдат, солдатка in Weismann's dictionary.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A soldier of the lowest ranks, in Russia a private or lance corporal.^[14][15]
2. (figurative) Any military man, a warrior.^[14]
3. (figurative) A devoted, steadfast member of a movement or cause.^[12][15]
4. (zoology) A soldier ant, a large-headed ant with strong jaws that defends the colony.^[13]

Word family

• солдатик
• солдатский
• солдатка
• солдафон
• солдатня

Usage notes

The genitive plural is солдат;^[14][16] солдатов is dated or substandard.^[14][16] The proverb солдат спит, а служба идёт jokes that the work gets done by itself.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 709–710
3. ^ a b Krysin, L. P. (2008), Tolkovyj slovar' inojazyčnyx slov [Толковый словарь иноязычных слов], Moskva: Èksmo, p. s.v. солдат
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Chernykh, P. Ya. (1993), Istoriko-ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Историко-этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. 2, s.v. солдат
5. ^ a b c d e f g Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 2, 353
6. ^ Shansky, N. M.; Ivanov, V. V.; Shanskaya, T. V. (1975), Kratkij ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Краткий этимологический словарь русского языка], 3rd ed., Moskva: Prosveščenie, p. s.v. солдат
7. ^ Gardiner, S. C. (1965), German Loanwords in Russian 1550–1690, Oxford: Blackwell (Publications of the Philological Society 22), p. 194
8. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. soldato
9. ^ a b Tsyganenko, G. P. (1989), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь русского языка], 2nd ed., Kiev: Radjans'ka škola, p. s.v. солдат
10. ^ Epishkin, N. I. (2010), Istoričeskij slovar' gallicizmov russkogo jazyka [Исторический словарь галлицизмов русского языка], Moskva: ÈTS, p. s.v. солдат
11. ^ a b Tupikov, N. M. (1903), Slovar' drevne-russkix ličnyx sobstvennyx imen [Словарь древне-русских личных собственных имен], Sankt-Peterburg, p. 367
12. ^ a b Efremova, T. F. (2000), Novyj slovar' russkogo jazyka. Tolkovo-slovoobrazovatel'nyj [Новый словарь русского языка. Толково-словообразовательный], 2 vols., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. s.v. солдат
13. ^ a b Ushakov, D. N. (ed.) (1935–1940), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4 vols., Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedija / OGIZ, p. s.v. солдат
14. ^ a b c d e Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. солдат
15. ^ a b Evgen'eva, A. P. (ed.) (1981–1984), Slovar' russkogo jazyka v četyrex tomax [Словарь русского языка в 4 тт.] (MAS), 2nd ed., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. s.v. солдат
16. ^ a b Gorbanevsky, M. N.; Gerd, A. S. et al. (eds.) (2004–), Bol'šoj akademičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Большой академический словарь русского языка], Moskva / Sankt-Peterburg: Nauka, p. 26, s.v. солдат