lieutenant general
3
6.6
- noun
- /luˈtɛnənt ˈdʒɛnərəl/
- Specialized
:
teniente general
- O'Neill is awaiting promotion to lieutenant general, which was the rank that James Abrahamson held when he was SDIO's first director.
- retired lieutenant general
- retired lieutenant general
- Army lieutenant general
Examples
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Following his promotion to lieutenant general on September 1, 1974, he became Chief of Staff, Headquarters Marine Corps.
Academic text (2010) -
After repeated correspondence with George Washington, President Adams on 2 July 1798 submitted to the Senate the nomination of George Washington as lieutenant general and commander in chief of the new army.
Academic text (1993) -
So they will name him lieutenant general, then?
Fiction book (1992) -
When I return, I'll make you a lieutenant general.
-
After his retirement as a lieutenant general, he had a long and successful academic career.
Academic text (2007) -
At the end of the war, Mussolini appointed him lieutenant general and minister of state.
Academic text (2010) -
Panetta stripped Gen. William "Kip" Ward of a star, which means that he will now retire as a three-star lieutenant general despite arguments from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff against the demotion.
Blog text (20) -
For several months, he was also the acting superintendent of the Academy, a job usually filled by a lieutenant general—two ranks above Weida's freshly pinned star.
Academic text (2007) -
After years of dedicated service, he rose to the rank of lieutenant general and commanded a large division.
-
The lieutenant general oversaw military operations in the region during the conflict.
Synonyms
4
5.0
A senior military officer above colonel who commands large units
How Senior
Surface Forms
Morphology
A learner who knows 'lieutenant' (a subordinate/deputy officer) and 'general' (a senior officer) can reasonably infer that 'lieutenant general' names a kind of general — a high military rank — so the basic meaning is recoverable from the parts. However the exact hierarchical position and the specific rank relations (above major general, below full general) reflect a conventional military naming pattern that is not fully predictable from the constituents alone, making the expression only partially transparent.
Etymology
Lieutenant general comes from the idea of a lieutenant as someone who 'stands in' for a leader, combined with general to show wide command. So today a lieutenant general is a very senior officer who stands in for or supports the top general, and the phrase means the high military rank below a full general.