Soldier

This article is about a military rank. For civilian and generic usage, see Armed forces.
Common military ranks
Officers
Navies1 Armies and
Air Forces		 Air Forces1
Admiral of
the Fleet		 Field Marshal Marshal of
the Air Force
Admiral General Air Marshal
Commodore Brigadier Air Commodore
Captain Colonel Group Captain
Commander Lt. Colonel Wing Commander
Lt. Commander Major Squadron Leader
Lieutenant Captain Flight Lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant Lieutenant Flying Officer
Seamen, soldiers and airmen
Warrant Officer Sergeant Major Warrant Officer
Petty Officer Sergeant Sergeant
Leading Rate Corporal Corporal
Seaman Private Aircraftman
1 in the Commonwealth

          
Soldier
Bundeswehr G36.jpg
German Army soldiers in Bosnia
Occupation
Type Profession
Activity sectors Military
Description
Competencies Physical abilities, stamina, mindset
Fields of employment Army
Related jobs Commando, SWAT, policeman, mercenary

A soldier is a general English term that refers to a land component of national armed forces. 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.

Contents

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 silver coin brought in after a reform of the Roman monetary 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 word soldier is also "солдат" ("soldat"), although it is not 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." And Finnish "sotilas" or "soturi", and "sota" meaning "war".

Occupational specialities

Azeri Special Forces equipped with Tavor TAR-21 rifles during a parade in Baku, Azerbaijan.

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, tanker, Commando, dragoon, infantryman, marine, paratrooper, ranger, sniper, engineer, sapper, or a gunner.

U.S. Army Soldiers in Baghdad, Iraq in 2007

Other terms

In some English speaking countries soldiers serving in specific occupations are referred to by terms other than their occupational name. For example military police personnel in the U.K. are known as "redheads" from the colour of their berets. In the United States Army, infantrymen are called "grunts", while artillerymen are sometimes referred to as "redlegs", from the branch color for artillery. In the UK Artillery men are known as "drop shorts" due to their propensity for dropping rounds short of the intended target and usually with disastrous results onto their own sides infantry troops.

See also

External links