sergeant

noun

ser·​geant ˈsär-jənt 

1

: sergeant at arms

2

obsolete : an officer who enforces the judgments of a court or the commands of one in authority

3

: a noncommissioned officer ranking in the army and marine corps above a corporal and below a staff sergeant

broadly : noncommissioned officer

4

: an officer in a police force ranking in the U.S. just below captain or sometimes lieutenant and in England just below inspector

Examples of sergeant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Bower was found by police with a gunshot wound to the head and declared dead at the scene, a police sergeant told Enquirer media partner Fox 19. —David Ferrara, The Enquirer, 3 Sep. 2025

According to a news release and video from the Utah Highway Patrol, a sergeant responded to multiple reports about the wrong-way driver on Interstate 15. —Taylor Ardrey, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2025

He's backed by John Shagan (Martin McCann), a former military sergeant who lost his pregnant fiancée during an invasion by Guatemalan soldiers into Belize, which used to be a Crown colony. —Randall Colburn, EW.com, 25 Aug. 2025

Grier’s practicality and grit came from her background, growing up as the daughter of an Air Force sergeant who moved the family around the world before landing in Denver, Colorado when Grier was a teenager. —Katie Rife, IndieWire, 20 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English sergeaunt, seriaunt, sergaunt, sargeaunt "servant, attendant, foot soldier, officer of a town, a court, or the royal household, holder of a sergeancy," borrowed from Anglo-French (also continental Old French sergant), going back to early Medieval Latin servient-, serviens "servant," going back to Latin, present participle of serviō, servīre "to perform duties for (a master) in the capacity of a slave, serve entry 1"

Note: The word sergeant is in effect a doublet of servant, both ultimately descending from the present participle of Latin servīre. The two words are already distinct in some manuscripts of the eleventh-century Old French Vie de saint Alexis, with sergant referring to a trusted servant of a noble household, servant simply to one serving God. The usual pronunciation of English sergeant exemplifies the late Middle English change of /ɛr/ to /ar/ before a consonant, which is not reflected in the standard spelling.

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing sergeant

• chief master sergeant
• chief master sergeant of the air force
• command sergeant major
• drill sergeant
• first sergeant
• gunnery sergeant
• master gunnery sergeant
• master sergeant
• platoon sergeant
• senior master sergeant
• sergeant at arms
• sergeant first class
• sergeant fish
• sergeant major
• sergeant major of the army
• sergeant major of the marine corps
• staff sergeant
• staff sergeant major
• technical sergeant
• top sergeant

Rhymes for sergeant

• argent

Kids Definition

sergeant

noun

ser·​geant ˈsär-jənt 

1

: a military noncommissioned officer with any of the ranks above corporal in the army or the marines or above airman first class in the air force

especially : an enlisted person with the rank just below that of staff sergeant

2

: a police officer ranking in the U.S. just below captain or sometimes lieutenant

Etymology

Middle English sergeant "sergeant, attendant, servant," from early French sergent, serjant (same meaning), from Latin servient-, serviens, a form of the verb servire "to serve"