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Cities Stocks Weather Movies Coupons Travel Blogs Health Horoscope Maps ASIA EUROPE Classifieds Yellow Pages| Common military ranks | ||
| Navies (English-speaking world) | Armies and some Air Forces | Air Forces (Commonwealth) |
|---|---|---|
| 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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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007) |
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.
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."
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