sergeant

noun

ser·​geant ˈsär-jənt 

1

: sergeant at arms

2

obsolete : an officer who enforces the judgments of a court or the commands of one in authority

3

: a noncommissioned officer ranking in the army and marine corps above a corporal and below a staff sergeant

broadly : noncommissioned officer

4

: an officer in a police force ranking in the U.S. just below captain or sometimes lieutenant and in England just below inspector

Examples of sergeant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

However, officers from Oakley will be accompanied by a sergeant. —Hema Sivanandam, The Mercury News, 17 Jan. 2025

Commander Mabry brought two other officers from Columbus, including Mr. Dyer, who would later become a sergeant, to observe. —Alfredo Sosa, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Jan. 2025

Nevertheless, the police sergeant said if workers crossed the road, they would be arrested. —Racquel Bazos, Baltimore Sun, 10 Jan. 2025

There are currently 4,300 sergeants in the NYPD, which has about 36,000 members. —Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 7 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English sergeaunt, seriaunt, sergaunt, sargeaunt "servant, attendant, foot soldier, officer of a town, a court, or the royal household, holder of a sergeancy," borrowed from Anglo-French (also continental Old French sergant), going back to early Medieval Latin servient-, serviens "servant," going back to Latin, present participle of serviō, servīre "to perform duties for (a master) in the capacity of a slave, serve entry 1"

Note: The word sergeant is in effect a doublet of servant, both ultimately descending from the present participle of Latin servīre. The two words are already distinct in some manuscripts of the eleventh-century Old French Vie de saint Alexis, with sergant referring to a trusted servant of a noble household, servant simply to one serving God. The usual pronunciation of English sergeant exemplifies the late Middle English change of /ɛr/ to /ar/ before a consonant, which is not reflected in the standard spelling.

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing sergeant

• chief master sergeant
• chief master sergeant of the air force
• command sergeant major
• drill sergeant
• first sergeant
• gunnery sergeant
• master gunnery sergeant
• master sergeant
• platoon sergeant
• senior master sergeant
• sergeant at arms
• sergeant first class
• sergeant fish
• sergeant major
• sergeant major of the army
• sergeant major of the marine corps
• staff sergeant
• staff sergeant major
• technical sergeant
• top sergeant

Kids Definition

sergeant

noun

ser·​geant ˈsär-jənt 

1

: a military noncommissioned officer with any of the ranks above corporal in the army or the marines or above airman first class in the air force

especially : an enlisted person with the rank just below that of staff sergeant

2

: a police officer ranking in the U.S. just below captain or sometimes lieutenant

Etymology

Middle English sergeant "sergeant, attendant, servant," from early French sergent, serjant (same meaning), from Latin servient-, serviens, a form of the verb servire "to serve"