soldier

• soldior, soldiour, souldier, souldior, souldiour (all obsolete)

From Middle English soudeour, borrowed from Old French soudier or soudeour (“mercenary”), from Medieval Latin soldarius (“soldier (one having pay)”), from Late Latin solidus, a type of coin.

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sōlʹjə(r), sŏlʹjə(r), IPA^(key): /ˈsəʊld͡ʒə/, /ˈsɒld͡ʒə/

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• (General American) enPR: sōlʹjər, IPA^(key): /ˈsoʊld͡ʒɚ/

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• Rhymes: -əʊld͡ʒə(ɹ), -ɒld͡ʒə(ɹ)

soldier (plural soldiers)

1. A member of an army, of any rank.
   • 1577, Raphaell Holinshed [i.e., Raphael Holinshed]; Richard Stanihurst, “[The Historie of Irelande.] The Thirde Booke of the Historie of Ireland, Comprising the Raigne of Henry the Eyght: [...].”, in The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande. Conteyning, The Description and Chronicles of England, from the First Inhabiting unto the Conquest. The Description and Chronicles of Scotland, from the First Originall of the Scottes Nation, till the Yeare of Our Lorde. 1571. The Description and Chronicles of Yrelande, likewise from the First Originall of that Nation, untill the Yeare. 1547. Faithfully Gathered and Set Forth, volume I, London: Imprinted [by Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, OCLC 55195564, pages 77–78, column 2:

     The Citizens in their rage, imagining that euery poſt in the Churche had bin one of ye Souldyers, ſhot habbe or nabbe at randon^{[sic, meaning random]} uppe to the Roode lofte, and to the Chancell, leauing ſome of theyr arrowes ſticking in the Images.

   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     I am a soldier and unapt to weep.

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314, page 0105:

     Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile ; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.

   • 2012, August 1. Owen Gibson in Guardian Unlimited, London 2012: rowers Glover and Stanning win Team GB's first gold medal

     Stanning, who was commissioned from Sandhurst in 2008 and has served in Aghanistan, is not the first soldier to bail out the organisers at these Games but will be among the most celebrated.

2. A private in military service, as distinguished from an officer.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Edmund Spenser

     It were meet that any one, before he came to be a captain, should have been a soldier.

3. A guardsman.
4. A member of the Salvation Army.
5. (Britain, New Zealand) A piece of buttered bread (or toast), cut into a long thin strip for dipping into a soft-boiled egg.
6. A term of affection for a young boy.
7. Someone who fights or toils well.
8. The red or cuckoo gurnard (Chelidonichthys cuculus).
9. One of the asexual polymorphic forms of termites, in which the head and jaws are very large and strong. The soldiers serve to defend the nest.
10. (slang, dated) A red herring (cured kipper with flesh turned red).

• (member of an army): grunt, sweat, old sweat, Tommy

• dead soldier
• soldierlike, soldierly
• water soldier (Stratiotes aloides)

soldier (third-person singular simple present soldiers, present participle soldiering, simple past and past participle soldiered)

1. (intransitive) To continue steadfast; to keep striving.
2. (intransitive) To serve as a soldier.
3. (intransitive) To intentionally restrict labor productivity; to work at the slowest rate that goes unpunished.
4. (transitive, slang) To take a ride on (another person's horse) without permission.
   • 1917, Cuthbert Fetherstonhaugh, After many days: being the reminiscences of Cuthbert Fetherstonhaugh

     It was the first time I had ever “soldiered” a horse. Soldiering means using a horse without the owner's leave or knowledge. Two of our lost horses we never found. Probably some one was soldiering them!

Originally from the way that conscripts may approach following orders. Usage less prevalent in the era of all-volunteer militaries.

• (work at slowest rate): dog it, goldbrick

• soldierly

• soldier on
• toy soldier, plastic soldier
• soldier ant, soldier bee
• soldier of fortune
• construction soldier

• soldier on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Soldier (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• soldier on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• soldier on Wikiquote.Wikiquote

• Delrios, serolid, solider