LIEUTENANT, noun luten'ant. [Latin tenens, holding.] 1. An officer who supplies the place of a superior in his absence. Officers of this kind are civil, as the lord-lieutenant of a kingdom or county; or military, as a lieutenant general, a lieutenant colonel. 2. In military affairs, the second commissioned officer in a company of infantry cavalry or artillery. 3. In ships of war, the officer next in rank to the captain.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI