Word of the Day: Adjutant

I recently came across this somewhat old-fashioned term (first used c. 1600) in the course of my research. I had thought this word (at least in the former colonies) to have disappeared along with the British Empire, but it seems to have been resurrected. In fact, my first experience of the word was when exposed to Kipling at a relatively young age.

The word 'adjutant' is possibly an adjective as well as a noun. It comes from Latin adiuvare, which literally means 'to add youthful vigour' (cf. 'rejuvenation', which means 'to restore youthful vigour'; see also Juventus FC). What's interesting is the context in which it was adopted into the English language. In English, it is almost only ever used in a military context.

What is that context? The Romans used the word adiutor for the officer who was the principle field admin support to the Commanding Officer. In the British army, this man is given a rank equivalent to that of captain and essentially was the battlefield controller of operations. As such, he is superior to all the other captains in a battalion's order of precedence.

Off the battlefield, the adjutant is the chief staff officer to a colonel or regimental commander. As such, in conjunction with the Regimental Sergeant Major, he handles awards, evaluations, ceremonies, and the other minutiae of a regiment's yearly routine. He stalks around, looking serious, and even may be called upon to handle discipline matters. Occasionally, this may lead to awkwardness, since he is technically outranked by majors, and yet closer to the Commanding Officer than they are.