LIEUTENANT, one who takes the place, office and duty of and acts on behalf of a superior or other person. The word in English preserves the form of the French original (from lieu, place, tenant, holding), which is the equivalent of the Lat. locum tenens, one holding the place of another. The usual English pronunciation appears early, the word being frequently spelled lief tenant, lye f tenant or luf tenant in the 14th and 15th centuries. The modern American pronunciation is lewtenant, while the German is repre sented by the present form of the word Leutnant. In French his tory, lieutenant du roi (locum tenens regis) was a title borne by the officer sent with military powers to represent the king in certain provinces. With wider powers and functions, both civil as well as military, and holding authority throughout an entire province, such a representative of the king was called lieutenant general du roi. The first appointment of these officials dates from the reign of Philip IV. the Fair (see CONSTABLE). In the 16th century the ad ministration of the provinces was in the hands of gouverneurs, to whom the lieutenants du roi became subordinates. The titles lieutenant civil or criminel and lieutenant general de police have been borne by certain judicial officers in France (see CHATELET and BAILIFF : Bailli). As the title of the representative of the sov ereign, "lieutenant" in English usage appears in the title of the lords lieutenant of the counties of the United Kingdom. (See COUNTY ; MILITIA : Uiliha in England.)
The most general use of the word is as the name of a grade of naval and military officer. In Italy and Spain the first part of the word is omitted, and an Italian or Spanish officer bearing this rank is called tenente or teniente respectively. In the British and most other navies the lieutenants are the commissioned officers next in rank to commanders, or second class of captains. Originally the lieutenant was a soldier who aided, and in case of need replaced, the captain, who, until the latter half of the 17th century, was not necessarily a seaman in any navy. At first one lieutenant was carried, and only in the largest ships. The number was gradually increased, and the lieutenants formed a numerous corps. Lieuten ants now often qualify for special duties such as navigation, or gunnery, or the management of torpedoes. In the British army a lieutenant is a subaltern officer ranking next below a captain and above a second lieutenant. In the United States of America subal terns are classified as first lieutenants and second lieutenants. In France the two grades are lieutenant and sous-lieutenant, while in Germany the Leutnant is the lower of the two ranks, the higher being Ober-leutnant (formerly Premier-leutnant). A "captain lieutenant" in the British army was formerly the senior subaltern who virtually commanded the colonel's company or troop, and ranked as junior captain, or "puny captain," as he was called by Cromwell's soldiers.