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From: olsen@masala.LCS.MIT.EDU (James Olsen)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Army customs...saluting
Message-ID: <1991Mar14.014655.18003@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 14 Mar 91 01:46:55 GMT
References: <1991Mar4.212815.9865@cbnews.att.com> <1991Mar6.042927.25702@cbnews.att.com>
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From: olsen@masala.LCS.MIT.EDU (James Olsen)
>>The origin of 'lieutenant' come from 'left attendant'...

>That's a nice story, and may be true for the English "leftenant". However,
>the American "lieutenant" comes from the French, and means "someone who
>acts instead (or in the place of) another"...

Well, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, both usages stem from the
French 'lieu'='place' and 'tenant'='holder'.  The rank was sometimes called
lieutenant-captain, clearly indicating that the lieutenant was acting as
the captain's surrogate.  This parallels the current lieutenant-colonel and
lieutenant-general ranks.

(The origin of the English 'leftenant' pronunciation is a bit obscure, and
might be due to medieval Englishmen mishearing the French pronunciation.)

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My curiosity having been piqued, I have come up with thumbnail derivations
of the other main rank names still in common use:

Private, from Latin privatus [withdrawn from public life and public office]:
  a soldier who holds no office (i.e., not an officer or NCO).

Corporal, from Italian corpo [body]:
  a soldier who leads a body of troops.

Sergeant, from Latin servientem [servant]:
  a soldier who attends to a knight in battle.

Lieutenant, see above.

Captain, from Latin capitanus [chief]:
  a military leader.

Major, from French major [short for sergeant-major]:
  an officer next superior to a captain.  'sergeant-major' could, at
  various times, denote a rank as high as major-general today.

Colonel, from Italian colonnella [little column]:
  officer leading the little column of troops at the head of a regiment.

General, from Latin generalis [pertaining to an entire class or kind]:
  the officer commanding the entire army.
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It's interesting to note that some ranks (such as private) are essentially
unchanged over the centuries, while others (such as sergeant) have varied
enormously.