Soldier

How to spell soldier

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce soldier

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does soldier mean?

1. nounA person who serves in an army, especially one who is not a commissioned officer.

Soldier in a sentence

• The young soldier wrote home from the base every week.

• Each soldier carried a heavy pack on the long march.

Where does soldier come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin solidus, the name of a gold coin used to pay the troops of the late Roman Empire. From that coin came the Late Latin soldarius, meaning literally 'one who serves for pay', and the idea of the wage stayed bound up with the word for centuries. English took it from Old French soudier or soldier around the year 1300, and early English spellings often dropped the 'd', appearing as 'souder' or 'soudiour'. The letter 'd' was later restored to honour the Latin source, which is exactly why the spelling now contains a 'd' that the pronunciation barely respects, sliding into a 'j' sound instead. The same solidus root survives in the word 'solid' and in the old British coin name the shilling's abbreviation 's', so the trooper and the steady coin share an ancestor.

How the word is built

• sold- (from Latin solidus, a coin used as pay)
• -ier (agent suffix: one who does)