English
soldier
Soldier comes from Old French soudier or soudeour, from Medieval Latin soldārius ‘one having pay’, from Late Latin solidus, a coin.
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsolidus‘solidus (a gold coin)’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500soldārius‘soldier (one having pay)’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400soudier‘mercenary, soldier’uncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500soudeour‘soldier’
- Englishearliest quotation 1577soldier
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsolidus‘solidus (a gold coin)’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500soldārius‘soldier (one having pay)’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400soudier‘mercenary, soldier’uncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500soudeour‘soldier’
- Englishearliest quotation 1577soldier
Earliest quotation: 1577, Raphaell Holinshed; Richarde Stanyhurst , Richard Stanihurst]: “The Citizens in their rage, imagining that euery poſt…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- ‘integrate, whole’
save, safe, salvation, sage, holocaust, salute, savior, salvage, salvo, salve, salvia, salutation, salutary, salubrious, 23 more
through Proto-Italic *soliðos
solidarity, consolidate, solidify, solidity, solidification, solidus, 6 more
through Late Latin solidus ‘dense, solid, not hollow’
Today it means
noun A member of a ground-based army, of any rank, but especially an enlisted member.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Late Latin solidus / soldier