sergeant
/ˈsɑɹ.d͡ʒənt/noun
sergeant is spelled S-E-R-G-E-A-N-T: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sergeant means “A UK army rank with NATO code OR-6, senior to corporal and junior to warrant officer ranks” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sergeant is sergeants.
How many letters and syllables are in sergeant?
| Letters | 8: S-E-R-G-E-A-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,957th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is sergeant?
Sergeant appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sergeant?
- UK /ˈsɑː.d͡ʒənt/
- US /ˈsɑɹ.d͡ʒənt/
- US /ˈsɑɹ(ə)nt/
Sergeant has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sergeant.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with sergeant
Also written: serjeant.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with sergeant?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as sergeant from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹdʒənt/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: estrange.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of sergeant
- sergeants plural
- serjant
- sergeaunt
- serjeant
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sergeant mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A UK army rank with NATO code OR-6, senior to corporal and junior to warrant officer ranks.
- 2
The highest rank of noncommissioned officer in some non-naval military forces and police.
- 3
A lawyer of the highest rank, equivalent to the doctor of civil law.
- 4
UKA title sometimes given to the servants of the sovereign.
sergeant surgeon, i.e. a servant, or attendant, surgeon
- 5
A bailiff.
- 6
A servant in monastic offices.
- 7
A fish, the píntano (Abudefduf saxatilis), a species of damselfish.
- 8
Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Athyma; distinct from the false sergeants.
noun
- 1
The title of a sergeant, added before their name.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate sergeant?
Wiktionary records 5 abbreviations of sergeant: sarge, sergt, sergt., sgt, sgt..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sergeant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense noncommissioned officer rank:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sergent |
| German | Stabsunteroffizier, Feldwebel |
| Portuguese | sargento |
| Spanish | sargento |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sergeant come from?
From Middle English sergeant, sergeaunt, serjent, serjaunt, serjawnt, sergant, from Old French sergeant, sergent, serjant, sergient, sergant (“sergeant, servant”), from Medieval Latin servientem, accusative of serviēns (“a servant, vassal, soldier, apparitor”), from Latin serviēns (“serving”), present participle of serviō (“serve, be a slave to”). Doublet of servant and servient. The shift from /vj/ > /dʒ/ was a regular development in Old French. Compare cavea > cage, salvia > sage. The fish is so called because of its stripes, supposed to resemble a sergeant's insignia of rank.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).