Soldier

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Categories: Articles needing additional references from November 2007 | Military life | Military personnel | Military occupations

Navies (English-speaking world)	Armies and some Air Forces	Air Forces (Commonwealth)
Common military ranks
Admiral of the Fleet	Field Marshal	Marshal of the Air Force
Admiral	General	Air Chief Marshal
Vice Admiral	Lieutenant General	Air Marshal
Rear Admiral	Major General	Air Vice Marshal
Commodore	Brigadier	Air Commodore
Captain	Colonel	Group Captain
Commander	Lieutenant Colonel	Wing Commander
Lieutenant Commander	Major	Squadron Leader
Lieutenant	Captain	Flight Lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant	Lieutenant	Flying Officer
Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer
Petty Officer	Sergeant	Sergeant
Leading Rate	Corporal	Corporal
Seaman	Private	Aircraftman

This article is about a military rank. For other uses, see Soldier (disambiguation).

This article is about a military rank. For civilian and generic usage, see Armed forces.

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Modern (American) soldiers.

A soldier is a member of a nation's military. The word "soldier" specifically refers to members of the army who are without officer's commission. In most armies of the world, soldiers who are not officers can work their way through the ranks to obtain a commission. 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.

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.

The common origin for the words soldier and payment survives not only in French (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"), and many other languages. In the Russian language the world soldier is also "солдат" ("soldat"), although it is not related to the Russian word for money. But in the same time, there are languages in which word soldier is derived from different word's root. For example Estonian "sõdur" is derived from word "sõda," which means in Estonian "war."