how does the person who "holds the place" for someone do that? What is the job? And for whom? I've often been confused by the term.Taking somebody's place? When is a placeholder a lieutenant? How did Latin
officium 'service, kindness, favor; duty' come to mean a room in which work gets done? Though we do have
officeholders, too. Latin
locus had a plethora of meanings: 'place, spot; seat, lodgings; (in war) post, station'. (See the
entry in Lewis & Short.)
Also where does the British "leftenant" come from? "Lef"?It's a complicated story, but basically, the pronunciation with
f is older. See the entry in the OED1: