Lieü-tēn'ant, n.

(lū-tēn'ant, or lef-tēn'ant) (Synop., § 130), n. [Fr., from lieu, place, and tenant, holding, p. pr. of tenir, Lat. tenere, to hold.]

1Sense 1. An officer, either civil or military, who supplies the place of a superior in his absence.

☞ In this sense the word is usually either appended or prefixed to that designating the officer whose place is supplied by the lieutenant; as, the lord-lieutenant of a kingdom or county; the lieutenant-general; a lieutenant-colonel.

2Sense 2. (a.) A commissioned officer in the army, next below a captain. (b.) A commissioned officer in the navy, next in rank below commander.

Lieutenant-colonel, an officer next in rank above major, and below colonel.—Lieutenant-general, an officer next in rank above major-general; in the United States, also, the next in military rank below the president, who is commander-in-chief.—Lieutenant-governor. (a.) An officer of a State, being next in rank to the governor, and, in case of the death or resignation of the latter, himself acting as governor. [U. S.] (b.) A deputy-governor. [Eng.]