A while ago, somebody posed a question regarding the origination of military rank names (wow, maybe?). A few months earlier, I had looked up a bunch of the terms in a dictionary and had noted the etymologies, but when the question was posed, I couldn't find my notes. So now, I've found my chicken-scratch encryptions, and I can't find the thread where the question was posed.

Anywho - here's a transcription of those notes.


general (L, kind)
lt general
major general
brigadier general (F, brigade)
colonel (F<L, column)
lt colonel
major (L, greater than others)
captain (L, head)
lieutenant (L, to hold instead)
(non-coms:)
sergeant (ME, common soldier)
corporal (F, head)
private (L, single)

FWIW, lieutenants include:

lt commander
lt junior

and sergeants include:

master sergeant
sergeant first class
staff sergeant

and privates include:

private first class