cadet
(kəˈdɛt)
[a. F. cadet, in 15th c. capdet, a. Pr. capdet:—Romanic type *capitetto, dim. of L. caput, capit- head; hence, little chief, inferior head of a family. Cf. also cadee, caddie, cad.]
1. a. A younger son or brother.
| 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 463 From a younger brother or cadet of this house. 1671 Crowne Juliana Ep. Ded. A iv, Leave that as a thread-bare portion to the Cadets. 1689 Swift Ode to Temple Wks. 1755 IV. i. 245 Poor we, cadets of heaven, Take up at best with lumber. a 1726 Vanbrugh False Fr. i. i, I am a cadet, and by consequence not rich. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. viii. 210 Spiritual preferments being turned into means of maintenance for cadets or bastards of the royal house. |
b. A younger branch of a family; a member of a younger branch.
| 1690 Locke Govt. i. ix. §25 A Cadet, or Sister's Son, must have the Preference. 1726 Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 238, I suppose his family was a cadet of your Lordship's family. |
c. The youngest son.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 348 Joseph was the youngest of twelve, and David the eleventh sonne, and but the caddet of Jesse. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. (1812) I. 19 The cadet of a family. |
2. a. A gentleman who entered the army without a commission, to learn the military profession and find a career for himself (as was regularly done by the younger sons of the French nobility before the Revolution). b. A junior in the East India Company's service. See also caddee, caddie.
| 1651 Howell Venice 7 This may be one reason why she connives at so many Courtisans for the use of the Cadett-gentlemen. [1652 Evelyn St. France Misc. Writ. (1805) 84 The cadets and younger brothers minding for the most part no greater preferments than what they cut out with their sword.] 1690 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Cadet, or Cadee, a Gentleman that Bears Arms in hopes of a Commission. 1691 Lond. Gaz. No. 2719/2 The Elector of Saxony..adds a Company of Cadets. 1704 Hymn to Victory lxx. 7 She serves Cadet and Voluntier. 1768 T. Simes Mil. Medley, A cadet serves without pay. 1772 Foote Nabob i. 9 Go out Cadets and Writers in the Company's Service. 1816 ‘Quiz’ Grand Master i. 10 His kit's pack'd up, and off he's set, To try his fortune—a cadet. |
3. a. A student in a military or naval college.
| 1775 Swinburne Trav. Spain xliv. (L.) The royal apartments are now occupied by a college of young gentlemen cadets, educated at the king's expence. 1788 Ld. Auckland Diary in Corr. (1861) II. 91 An establishment of one hundred young cadets for the army. a 1845 Hood To J. Hume iv, Watch Sandhurst too, its debts and its Cadets. 1860 Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 122 Sydney has just passed his examination as a naval cadet. |
b. A boy in an ordinary school who receives military training with or without a view to entering the army. Also attrib., as cadet corps, a company of schoolboys who receive such training.
| 1873 Programme of Review at Charterhouse School 6 Aug., The young gentlemen (or Charterhouse Cadets) will be drawn up in Line at Open Order on the Cricket Ground. 1901 Public School Mag. Mar. 215 The Cadet Corps paraded in front of the school and stood ‘at rest’ while the band played ‘The Land o' the Leal’. 1957 Times 3 Dec. 12/3 Cadet corps in Birmingham schools came under fire from many members of the city education committee to-day. |
4. N.Z. A young man learning sheep-farming on a sheep-station. Hence caˈdet(t)ing vbl. n.
| 1842 R. G. Jameson N.Z., S. Aust. & N.S.W. xxiv. 337 We [are] in want of a college for colonial cadets. 1862 E. R. Chudleigh Diary 21 Mar. (1950) i. 29 There were four Cadets learning sheepfarming. 1898 H. B. Vogel Maori Maid xix. 147 A cadet is a young man, generally from England, who is paying a run-holder so much a year for the honour and privilege of working for him. Ibid. xix. 148 Otherwise cadetting..is a swindle. 1930 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs ii. 23 Reginald Wade managed for the Chamberlains, and at one time had no fewer than ten cadets on the station. |