Leutnant

See also: leutnant

German

Alternative forms

• Leutenant (archaic)
• Lieutenant (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle French lieutenant (“lieutenant; deputy”), from tenir le lieu de (“to keep the position of”). Early on, the form was folk-etymologically reshaped, the first syllable being associated with Leute (“folk, men”), the last syllable sometimes with Amt (“post, office”). The normal spoken form in German has been Leut(e)nant since the 17th century, although the French spelling Lieutenant remained common and became standard in the 19th century. The contemporary spelling was introduced in the German Empire in 1899 amid rising Franco-German tensions and a general trend of Germanification.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔʏ̯tnant/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Leut‧nant
• Rhymes: -ant

Noun

Leutnant m (strong, genitive Leutnants, plural Leutnante or Leutnants)

1. lieutenant

Usage notes

• The normal plural used to be Leutnants. Today both forms are roughly equally common. The preference seems to depend somewhat on stress patterns, meaning that Leutnante is more frequent in the simplex than in compounds.

Declension

Declension of Leutnant [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Leutnant	die	Leutnante, Leutnants
genitive	eines	des	Leutnants	der	Leutnante, Leutnants
dative	einem	dem	Leutnant	den	Leutnanten, Leutnants
accusative	einen	den	Leutnant	die	Leutnante, Leutnants

Derived terms

• Generalleutnant
• Kapitänleutnant
• Leutnantspatent
• Oberleutnant

Descendants

• → Estonian: leitnant
• → Lower Sorbian: leutnant

Further reading

• “Leutnant” in Duden online
• “Leutnant” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache