What is "sergeant"

Sergeant \Ser"geant\, n. [F. sergent, fr. L. serviens, -entis, p. pr. of servire to serve. See Serve, and cf. Servant.] [Written also serjeant. Both spellings are authorized. In England serjeant is usually preferred, except for military officers. In the United States sergeant is common for civil officers also.]

1. Formerly, in England, an officer nearly answering to the more modern bailiff of the hundred; also, an officer whose duty was to attend on the king, and on the lord high steward in court, to arrest traitors and other offenders. He is now called sergeant-at-arms, and two of these officers, by allowance of the sovereign, attend on the houses of Parliament (one for each house) to execute their commands, and another attends the Court Chancery.

   The sergeant of the town of Rome them sought.
   --Chaucer.

   The magistrates sent the serjeant, saying, Let those men go.
   --Acts xvi. 35.

   This fell sergeant, Death, Is strict in his arrest.
   --Shak.

2. (Mil.) In a company, battery, or troop, a noncommissioned officer next in rank above a corporal, whose duty is to instruct recruits in discipline, to form the ranks, etc.

   Note: In the United States service, besides the sergeants belonging to the companies there are, in each regiment, a sergeant major, who is the chief noncommissioned officer, and has important duties as the assistant to the adjutant; a quartermaster sergeant, who assists the quartermaster; a color sergeant, who carries the colors; and a commissary sergeant, who assists in the care and distribution of the stores. Ordnance sergeants have charge of the ammunition at military posts.

3. (Law) A lawyer of the highest rank, answering to the doctor of the civil law; -- called also serjeant at law. [Eng.]
   --Blackstone.

4. A title sometimes given to the servants of the sovereign; as, sergeant surgeon, that is, a servant, or attendant, surgeon. [Eng.]

5. (Zo["o]l.) The cobia. Drill sergeant. (Mil.) See under Drill. Sergeant-at-arms, an officer of a legislative body, or of a deliberative or judicial assembly, who executes commands in preserving order and arresting offenders. See Sergeant, 1. Sergeant major.

   1. (Mil.) See the Note under def. 2, above.

   2. (Zo["o]l.) The cow pilot.

c.1200, "servant," from Old French sergent, serjant "(domestic) servant, valet; court official; soldier," from Medieval Latin servientum (nominative serviens) "servant, vassal, soldier" (in Late Latin "public official"), from Latin servientem "serving," present participle of servire "to serve" (see serve (v.)); cognate with Spanish sirviente, Italian servente; a twin of servant, and 16c. writers sometimes use the two words interchangeably.\n

\nSpecific sense of "military servant" is attested from late 13c.; that of "officer whose duty is to enforce judgments of a tribunal or legislative body" is from c.1300 (sergeant at arms is attested from late 14c.). Meaning "non-commissioned military officer" first recorded 1540s. Originally a much more important rank than presently. As a police rank, in Great Britain from 1839.\n

\nMiddle English alternative spelling serjeant (from Old French) was retained in Britain in special use as title of a superior order of barristers (c.1300, from legal Latin serviens ad legem, "one who serves (the king) in matters of law"), from which Common Law judges were chosen; also used of certain other officers of the royal household. sergeant-major is from 1570s. The sergeant-fish (1871) so-called for lateral markings resembling a sergeant's stripes. Related: Sergeancy.

n. 1 UK army rank with NATO code OR-6, senior to corporal and junior to warrant officer ranks. 2 The highest rank of noncommissioned officer in some non-naval military forces and police.

1. n. any of several noncommissioned officer ranks in the army or air force or marines ranking above a corporal

2. a lawman with the rank of sergeant [syn: police sergeant]

3. an English barrister of the highest rank [syn: serjeant-at-law, serjeant, sergeant-at-law]

Sergeant is a police or military rank.

Sergeant may also refer to:

Sergeant (kersantti in Finnish) is a Swedish and Finnish military rank above korpral in Sweden and alikersantti in Finland; and below förste sergeant in Sweden and Ylikersantti in Finland.

Sergeant, (normally abbreviated to Sgt) is a rank used in many armies, police forces, and other uniformed organizations. Its origins are in the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term sergent.

The term "sergeant" refers to a Non Commissioned Army Officer placed above the rank of a Corporal and a Police Officer immediately below a Lieutenant. In most armies the rank of sergeant corresponds to command of a squad (or section). In Commonwealth armies, it is a more senior rank, corresponding roughly to a platoon second-in-command. In the United States Army, sergeant is a more junior rank corresponding to a four-man fireteam leader.

More senior non-commissioned ranks are often variations on sergeant, for example staff sergeant, first sergeant and sergeant major.

Many countries use the rank of sergeant, whether in English or using a cognate with the same origin in another language. The equivalent rank in Arab armies is raqeeb, meaning "overseer" or "watcher".

Sergeant were a 4-piece indie rock band from Glenrothes in Fife, Scotland. In 2007 they signed a contract with Mercury Records. The band played both 2007 T in the Park and Glastonbury festivals and have attracted a fanbase and media attention extending well outside their Scottish base. Xfm Scotland's Jim Gellatly has marked the band as one of his favourites for 2007.

Prior to the release of their first album, the band were chosen to support Oasis on the four Scottish dates and also to support The Fratellis on the full UK tour.

Sergeant is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Adeline Sergeant (1851–1904), English writer
• Edward Guthlac Sergeant (1881–1961), English chess master
• Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant (1881–1965), American journalist and writer
• George Sergeant (1881–1971), American attorney and mayor of Dallas, Texas
• Howard Sergeant (1914–1987), British poet and editor
• John Sergeant (politician) (1779–1852), American politician and member of the US House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
• John Sergeant (journalist) (born 1944), British journalist and broadcaster
• John Sergeant (priest) (1623–1707 or 1710), English Roman Catholic priest, controversialist and theologian
• Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant (1746–1793), lawyer, representative for New Jersey in the Second Continental Congress in 1776 and 1777 and Attorney General of Pennsylvania
• Malcolm Sargent (1895–1967), British orchestra conductor
• Marc Sergeant (born 1959), Belgian former professional road bicycle racer and team manager
• Peta Sergeant, Australian actress
• Peter Sergeant (died 1714), English-born merchant in Boston, Massachusetts
• Philip Walsingham Sergeant (1872–1952), British chess and history writer
• Richard Sergeant (died 1586), beatified English Roman Catholic priest and martyr
• Sharon Sergeant (born 1947), forensic genealogist
• Tony Sergeant (born 1977), Belgian retired football midfielder
• Will Sergeant (born 1958), English guitarist best known as a member of Echo & the Bunnymen