veteran

See also: Veteran, veterán, and vétéran

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French vétéran, from Latin veterānus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈvɛ.tə.ɹən/, /ˈvɛ.tɹən/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
    • (US) IPA(key): [ˈvɛ.t̬ə.ɹən], [ˈvɛ.ɾə.ɹən]

Noun

veteran (plural veterans)

  1. A person with long experience of a particular activity.
    Synonyms: old hand, old-timer, warhorse
    Hypernym: person
    The company's new hires were nervous, but the veterans were self-assured because, as one summarized it, "this isn't our first rodeo."
    • 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:
      Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. [] Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.
    1. A person who has served in the armed forces, especially an old soldier who has seen long service.
      Hypernym: person
      Hyponym: war veteran (to distinguish from veterans who served entirely during peacetime)
      Coordinate term: servicemember
      We honor veterans and senior citizens with a ten percent discount.
  2. (figurative) A group, animal, etc. with long experience of a particular activity.
    Their mules were clearly veterans. They seemed to know what to do even better than the teenage farmhand who was driving the team.
    • 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 87:
      Most of the cars which we call "veterans" today were on view at the Motor Show of 1911.
    • 2018 April 1, Cristian Bonetto, Lonely Planet Pocket Copenhagen[1], →ISBN, page 81:
      The label has often collaborated with other designers, like Australian shoemaker Teva and American woolwear veteran Pendleton.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

veteran (not comparable)

  1. Having had long experience, practice, or service.
    • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter IV, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
      The insinuating eloquence and delicate flattery of veteran diplomatists and courtiers.
    • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad[2]:
      Nothing could be more business-like than the construction of the stout dams, and nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old forest trees marshalled round their margins like a veteran army that had marched down to drink, only to be stricken motionless at the water’s edge.
    • 1980, Stephen King, The Mist:
      “That was in Casco,” his wife contradicted immediately. She spoke in the unmistakable tones of a veteran contradictor.
  2. Of or relating to former members of the military armed forces, especially those who served during wartime.

Translations

Anagrams

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin veterānus (old, veteran), from vetus (aged, ancient, old).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vetəraːn/, [vetˢəˈʁɑːˀn]

Noun

veteran c (singular definite veteranen, plural indefinite veteraner)

  1. veteran

Declension

Declension of veteran
common
gender
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative veteran veteranen veteraner veteranerne
genitive veterans veteranens veteraners veteranernes

Derived terms

Further reading

Esperanto

Adjective

veteran

  1. accusative singular of vetera

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin veterānus.

Noun

veteran m (definite singular veteranen, indefinite plural veteraner, definite plural veteranene)

  1. veteran

Derived terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin veterānus.

Noun

veteran m (definite singular veteranen, indefinite plural veteranar, definite plural veteranane)

  1. veteran

Derived terms

References

Piedmontese

Noun

veteran m (plural veteran)

  1. veteran

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vétéran, Latin veterānus. Compare bătrân, a doublet inherited from the same source.

Noun

veteran m (plural veterani)

  1. veteran (person who has served in the armed forces, or figuratively a person with a long experience of a particular activity; also used in the context of Ancient Rome, referring to a freed soldier granted citizenship and privileges for his service)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin veterānus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʋetěraːn/
  • Hyphenation: ve‧te‧ran

Noun

vetèrān m anim (Cyrillic spelling ветѐра̄н)

  1. veteran

Declension

Declension of veteran
singular plural
nominative vetèrān veterani
genitive veterána veterana
dative veteranu veteranima
accusative veterana veterane
vocative veterane veterani
locative veteranu veteranima
instrumental veteranom veteranima

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin veterānus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vɛtɛˈrɑːn/

Noun

veteran c

  1. a veteran (former member of armed forces)
  2. a veteran (person with long experience)

Declension

Derived terms