serjeant

serjeant
Sergeant Ser"geant, n. [F. sergent, fr. L. serviens, -entis, p. pr. of servire to serve. See {Serve}, and cf. {Servant}.] [Written also {serjeant}. Both spellings are authorized. In England {serjeant} is usually preferred, except for military officers. In the United States {sergeant} is common for civil officers also.] 1. Formerly, in England, an officer nearly answering to the more modern bailiff of the hundred; also, an officer whose duty was to attend on the king, and on the lord high steward in court, to arrest traitors and other offenders. He is now called sergeant-at-arms, and two of these officers, by allowance of the sovereign, attend on the houses of Parliament (one for each house) to execute their commands, and another attends the Court Chancery. [1913 Webster]

The sergeant of the town of Rome them sought. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

The magistrates sent the serjeant, saying, Let those men go. --Acts xvi. 35. [1913 Webster]

This fell sergeant, Death, Is strict in his arrest. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

2. (Mil.) In a company, battery, or troop, a noncommissioned officer next in rank above a corporal, whose duty is to instruct recruits in discipline, to form the ranks, etc. [1913 Webster]

Note: In the United States service, besides the sergeants belonging to the companies there are, in each regiment, a sergeant major, who is the chief noncommissioned officer, and has important duties as the assistant to the adjutant; a quartermaster sergeant, who assists the quartermaster; a color sergeant, who carries the colors; and a commissary sergeant, who assists in the care and distribution of the stores. Ordnance sergeants have charge of the ammunition at military posts. [1913 Webster]

3. (Law) A lawyer of the highest rank, answering to the doctor of the civil law; -- called also {serjeant at law}. [Eng.] --Blackstone. [1913 Webster]

4. A title sometimes given to the servants of the sovereign; as, sergeant surgeon, that is, a servant, or attendant, surgeon. [Eng.] [1913 Webster]

5. (Zo["o]l.) The cobia. [1913 Webster]

{Drill sergeant}. (Mil.) See under {Drill}.

{Sergeant-at-arms}, an officer of a legislative body, or of a deliberative or judicial assembly, who executes commands in preserving order and arresting offenders. See {Sergeant}, 1.

{Sergeant major}. (a) (Mil.) See the Note under def. 2, above. (b) (Zo["o]l.) The cow pilot. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Serjeant — Ser jeant, Serjeantcy Ser jeant*cy, etc. See {Sergeant}, {Sergeantcy}, etc. [1913 Webster] {Serjeant at arms}. See {Sergeant at arms}, under {Sergeant}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Serjeant — may be:*The holder of a serjeanty, a type of feudal land holding in England *A generally obsolete spelling of Sergeant, although still used in some English regiments, and for Serjeants at Arms *Serjeant at law, an obsolete class of barrister in… …   Wikipedia

  • serjeant — [sär′jənt] n. alt. Brit. sp. of SERGEANT …   English World dictionary

  • serjeant — Sergeant Ser geant, n. [F. sergent, fr. L. serviens, entis, p. pr. of servire to serve. See {Serve}, and cf. {Servant}.] [Written also {serjeant}. Both spellings are authorized. In England {serjeant} is usually preferred, except for military… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • serjeant — British for sergeant. The title of the highest rank attainable in England in the profession of the common law. See ancient serjeant; common serjeant; King s premier serjeant; premier serjeant …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • serjeant — sergeant, serjeant The normal spelling in the context of the police and the army is sergeant; serjeant is usually restricted to the titles of certain ceremonial offices, such as the serjeant at arms with reference to the British parliamentary or… …   Modern English usage

  • serjeant — n. 1 (in full serjeant at law, pl. serjeants at law) hist. a barrister of the highest rank. 2 Brit. (in official lists) a sergeant in the Army. Phrases and idioms: Common Serjeant Brit. a circuit judge of the Central Criminal Court with duties in …   Useful english dictionary

  • Serjeant-at-law — (postnominal SL [cite web | url=http://www.burkes peerage.net/code/hith/help/ahp s.asp | title=Abbreviations (S), Burke s Peerage | accessdate=2006 12 07] ) was an order of barristers at the English or Irish bar. Serjeants at law ( servientes ad… …   Wikipedia

  • Serjeant Musgrave's Dance — Serjeant Musgrave s Dance, An Un historical Parable [John Arden, Arden Plays 1 , Methuen Publishing Ltd, London, August 2002] is a play by English playwright John Arden, written in 1959 and premiered at the Royal Court Theatre on October 22 of… …   Wikipedia

  • Serjeant's Inn — Serjeant s Inn, Fleet Street, London, was one of the two inns of the Serjeants at Law. The Fleet Street inn dated from 1443 and the Chancery Lane inn dated from 1416. Both buildings were destroyed in the World War II 1941 bombing raids.By 1500… …   Wikipedia

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