Lieutenant

The word lieutenant has two meanings, the first denotes a junior commissioned officer in the army or navy, which dates from the 16th century, the second and older meaning is one who acts on the behalf of a superior and dates from The Middle Ages. For example, a senior government minister might well say, “Speak to one of my lieutenants on this matter” and will certainly not be ascribing any military rank to the person so designated. The latter meaning is closer to the original etymology of the word. Lieutenant comes from the Old French lieu + tenant which means standing in place of. In English, we still have the expression in lieu of which means in place of or instead of. In any event, it is easy to see how Lieutenant as in military rank and the older meaning of any subordinate acting in place of a superior, are linked. In the 1300s, the word was generally spelt leeftenant or sometimes lieftenant, which corresponds to the way the word is pronounced in Standard English, which is ‘left- tenant’. The North Americans, however, still pronounce the word closer to the original French, as in ‘loo-tenant’.