LIEUTENANT, n. luten'ant. [L. tenens, holding.]
1. An officer who supplies the place of a superior in his absence. Officers of this kind are civil, as the lord-lieutenant of a kingdom or county; or military, as a lieutenant general, a lieutenant colonel.
2. In military affairs, the second commissioned officer in a company of infantry cavalry or artillery.
3. In ships of war, the officer next in rank to the captain.
