cadet

noun

ca·​det kə-ˈdet How to pronounce cadet (audio)
plural cadets
1
a
: a younger brother or son
b
: youngest son
c
: a younger branch of a family or a member of it
2
a
: a person in training for a military or naval commission
especially : a student in a service academy
b
: a student at a police academy : a person who is in training to become a police officer
During his swearing-in speech last August, the 54-year-old head cop pointed out that he still wears the same size uniform that he wore when he was a cadet at the Police Academy 34 years ago.Bernard C. Parks
3
slang : pimp
cadetship noun

Examples of cadet in a Sentence

the hooker claims she turned all her dough in to her cadet last night
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Gaby Gomez, a cadet who serves as the program’s commanding officer, led the cadets at the start of the ceremony. Cadet Nadeen Willat, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 July 2025 Another showed a graduation ceremony and cadets from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Also shown were videos with military members giving testimonials about what their service means to them. Ellen Mitchell, The Hill, 15 June 2025 His work in summer of 1944 focused on teaching cadets from the rear seat of a BT-13 Valiant training airplane. Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 July 2025 Videos captured the ensuing chaos as people on the shoreline and bridge span ran in terror, and Navy cadets dangled from the ship's crossbeams and sailcloth. Christopher Cann, USA Today, 2 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for cadet

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, going back to Middle French, borrowed from Gascon (15th-century) capdet "chief, captain" (Old Occitan capdel), going back to Vulgar Latin *capitellus "leader," from Latin capit-, caput "head" + -ellus, diminutive suffix, originally from noun stems ending in -ul-, -r-, and -n- — more at head entry 1

Note: Compare capital entry 3, caudillo. In the fifteenth century the younger sons of Gascon nobles, lacking an inheritance, were recruited into the French army to learn the military profession. In this context the Gascon word was loaned into French, but with the sense "younger son," the characteristic feature of these men to the French, rather than with its Gascon meaning. The Gascon connection was soon lost. The -t of capdet shows the peculiar outcome of Latin geminate -ll- in Gascon. The cluster -pd- was simplified in French to -d-.

First Known Use

1610, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of cadet was in 1610

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cadet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cadet. Accessed 26 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

cadet

noun
ca·​det kə-ˈdet How to pronounce cadet (audio)
1
: a student military officer
2
: a student at a military school
cadetship noun
Etymology

from French cadet "a younger brother or son, one training for military service," derived from Latin capitellum, literally, "little (younger) head or chief," from caput "head" — related to cad, caddie, capital, captain, chief see Word History at caddie

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