Everything about Soldier totally explained
A
soldier is a general English term that refers to a member of a land component of
national armed forces who are without
officer's commission, and serve in the rank variously equivalent to a
private.
In most societies of the world, "soldier" is also a general term for any member of the land forces including
commissioned or
Non-commissioned officers.
Etymology
The word
soldier is derived from an
Old French word, itself a derivation of
Solidarius,
Latin for someone who served in the
armed forces for pay, as opposed to
warriors in tribal society where every grown man is automatically a member of his clan's fighting force.
Solidare in Latin means "to pay";
Roman soldiers were paid in
solidi, so-called because they were a new type of
solid gold coin brought in after a reform of the Roman money system.
Non-English equivalents
The common Romance origin for the words
soldier and
payment survives not only in
French as
soldat and
solde, but also in other languages, like
German Soldat and
Sold,
Spanish soldado and
sueldo,
Portuguese soldado and
soldo,
Dutch soldaat and
soldij,
Italian "soldato" and "soldo",
Arabic "Gondi" and "moganad" and many other languages.
In the Russian language the world soldier is also "солдат" ("soldat"), although it isn't related to the Russian word for money, but was borrowed from German use. In some languages the word
soldier is derived from different etymology, for example Estonian "sõdur" is derived from word "sõda," which means "war."
Occupational specialities
In most armed forces the word soldier has been mostly abandoned with increasing specialisation in military occupations that require different areas of knowledge and skill-sets, and have been replaced by names which reflect Arm, Service or Branch of individual's service, type of unit or operational employment or technical use such as:
trooper,
Commando,
dragoon,
infantryman,
marine,
paratrooper,
ranger,
sniper,
engineer, or a
sapper.
Other terms
In some English speaking countries soldiers serving in specific occupations are referred to by terms other then their occupational name. For example
military police personnel are known as "redheads" from the colour of their berets, and in the
United States Army gunners are known as "redlegs".
Other uses
A soldier who no longer serves in the armed forces is often called a
veteran, a term which can also apply to a long-serving or experienced soldier who is still in the army.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Soldier'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://soldier.totallyexplained.com">Soldier Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
