The term was first used in Italy in the 1250s. This was the name of the hired soldiers who received money for their service. The origin of the word "soldier" is taken from the reformed name of the Italian small change coin, which was called soldo. Which said that the value of such a person's service was petty, like the price of his life.
The meaning of the word "soldier" in explanatory dictionaries
To simplify the meaning of the term, definitions from dictionaries are kept to a minimum and also freed from ambiguity and systematized in one article:
- Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language: this is an element of the army, called "warrior". All his expenses are paid from the state treasury, and he is also paid a salary. In a broader sense, a soldier is the lowest military rank, that is, just joined the army and did not have any rank.
- In the collection "Explanation of 25,000 foreign words that came into use in the Russian language with the meaning of their roots" - this is the minimum military rank, a soldier without rank.
- The New Dictionary of Foreign Words provides three definitions of the word, described below:
- Part of the rank and file in the army.
- A soldier is a military person or has served in the army.
- In a non-literal sense, this is a person who has completely given himself to any cause.
Not only people have their own soldiers who protect them from enemies. In the animal world there is a species of Amazon ants, or in other words, "soldiers". They lead a parasitic way of life and capture other brothers in appearance into their slavery. But this is not because of their nasty nature, but because without the help of other ants they cannot feed themselves or build a home.
Let's turn to history
Unlike European countries, where mercenary wars were considered soldiers, in Russia this name was given to the lower ranks in the army. After the proletarian revolution of 1917, the place of a soldier was replaced by a Red Army soldier or just a fighter. In 1946, they decided to return the category of soldiers.
Examples of usage
In Russian folklore, a soldier is distinguished by ingenuity and ingenuity, which is expressed in literature. For example, the fairy tale "Porridge from an ax" known to many since childhood tells how a tired and hungry warrior asked for a stay with a greedy woman and her henpecked man.
It was the ingenuity that helped the soldier cook himself delicious porridge with bacon, outwitting the stupid and stingy old woman. There are a lot of similar examples of getting out of a difficult situation by valiant warriors in the literature, which means that they are based onreal characters of Russian people. An example can be Stories about Suvorov and Russian soldiers.
