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Glite Dictionary
provost marshal

provost marshal

1 9.9
An officer who leads the police in an army and makes sure soldiers follow rules
  • noun
  • /ˈproʊvost ˈmɑːrʃəl/
  • Formal
translation icon : provost marshal
  • The provost marshal will see you now.
  • provost marshal general

Examples

  • "Persons captured under arms against British forces in the field... shall be placed within the jurisdiction... of the nearest provost marshal or garrison commander."

    Breaker Morant (1980)

  • I need to see the provost marshal.

    The Package (1989)

  • Are we going to stand here and chat until the provost marshal comes for us?

    The Three Musketeers (1973)

  • And have the provost marshal's office look into this.

    Crossfire (1947)

  • Turn him over to the provost marshal at Belvoir.

    The Package (1989)

  • Your sister refused to talk to the provost marshal or answer any of his questions. "She refuses to talk to anyone," Temple admitted.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • I am the provost marshal here.

  • Personal weapons must be kept locked and registered with the base provost marshal.

Surface Forms

provost marshal singular
provost marshals plural

Morphology

provost + marshal

The term is largely compositional: if a learner knows 'provost' as an officer responsible for discipline/administration and 'marshal' as a military officer, they can infer an officer who oversees disciplinary/military police matters. However, 'provost' is a low-frequency, somewhat archaic/technical word and the precise institutional role (supervising military police) is specialized, so the relation is only partly predictable for a B1 learner.

Etymology

Provost marshal comes from two older job names: a provost was a local official who kept order and looked after prisons, and a marshal was a military leader. Put together, the title gives the image of an officer who keeps discipline and handles police work among soldiers, which is why it means 'an officer who supervises the military police' today.