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cadet

Flag: gbEnglishOxford Dictionary of English
cadet /kəˈdɛt /
▸ noun
1 a young trainee in the armed services or police force:
an air cadet.
▪ a boy or girl of 13–18 who undergoes voluntary army, navy, or air force training together with adventure training.
▪ Australian English a trainee or novice, especially a trainee journalist.
2 formal, or archaic a younger son or daughter:
a cadet of the family of the Earls of Rosse.
▪ [usually as modifier] a junior branch of a family:
a cadet branch of the family.
– DERIVATIVES
cadetship /kəˈdɛtʃɪp / noun
– ORIGIN early 17th century (in cadet (sense 2 of the noun)): from French, from Gascon dialect capdet, a diminutive based on Latin caput ‘head’. The notion ‘little head’ or ‘inferior head’ gave rise to that of ‘younger, junior’.