Etimology
From Middle English soudeour, from Old French soudier or soudeour (“mercenary”), from Medieval Latin soldarius (“soldier (one having pay)”), from Late Latin solidus, a type of coin. Displaced Old English cempa (whence obsolete kemp).
noun
soldier (plural soldiers)
A member of a ground-based army, of any rank, but especially an enlisted member.
(by extension, nonstandard) Any member of a military, regardless of specialty.
An enlisted member of a military service, as distinguished from a commissioned officer.
A guardsman.
A member of the Salvation Army.
A low-ranking gangster or member of a gang, especially the mafia, who engages in physical conflict.
(British, Australia, New Zealand) A piece of buttered bread (or toast), cut into a long thin strip for dipping into a soft-boiled egg.
A term of approbation for a young boy.
Someone who fights or toils well.
The red or cuckoo gurnard (Chelidonichthys cuculus).
One of the asexual polymorphic forms of termites, in which the head and jaws are very large and strong. The soldiers serve to defend the nest.
(slang, dated) A red herring (cured kipper with flesh turned red).
(xiangqi) A xiangqi piece that moves and captures by advancing one point. Once it has crossed the river, it may also move and capture one point horizontally.
One of the bricks in a course of brickwork that are laid vertically on their shortest ends, so that their narrowest edges face the outside of the wall.
Examples
The Citizens in their rage, imagining that euery poſt in the Churche had bin one of ye Souldyers, ſhot habbe or nabbe at randon[sic – meaning random] uppe to the Roode lofte, and to the Chancell, leauing ſome of theyr arrowes ſticking in the Images.
I am a soldier and unapt to weep.
Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile ; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.
Stanning, who was commissioned from Sandhurst in 2008 and has served in Afghanistan, is not the first soldier to bail out the organisers at these Games but will be among the most celebrated.
It were meet that any one, before he came to be a captain, should have been a soldier.
Beside his egg was a plate of buttered toast, already cut up into soldiers.
[L]et 'em know how important it is to have Runyon Avenue soldiers up in our corners; their loyalty to us is worth more than any award is.
Related words
synonyms
(member of an army): grunt, sweat, old sweat, Tommy
verb
soldier (third-person singular simple present soldiers, present participle soldiering, simple past and past participle soldiered)
(intransitive) To continue steadfast; to keep striving.
(intransitive) To serve as a soldier.
(intransitive) To intentionally restrict labor productivity; to work at the slowest rate that goes unpunished.
(transitive, slang) To take a ride on (another person's horse) without permission.
Examples
It was the first time I had ever “soldiered” a horse. Soldiering means using a horse without the owner's leave or knowledge. Two of our lost horses we never found. Probably some one was soldiering them!
Related words
synonyms
(work at slowest rate): dog it, goldbrick