Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A military officer acting as secretary and confidential assistant to a superior officer of general or flag rank.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Milit., a confidential officer whose duty it is to receive and communicate the orders of a general officer, act as his secretary upon occasion, and the like. Sometimes written aid-de-camp.
Wiktionary
- n. A military officer who serves as an adjutant to a higher ranking officer, prince or other high political dignitary.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an officer who acts as military assistant to a more senior officer
Etymologies
- Borrowing from French, from aide 'aide' + de 'of' camp '(military) camp' (Wiktionary)
- French : aide, assistant + de, of + camp, camp. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Learning that it was the mother of the bride, he called his aide-de-camp, General Losoi, and said, “Fetch me a man capable of committing any crime from theft to murder.””
“As an artillery officer of cool daring and efficiency, he caught George Washington's notice, joined his staff as aide-de-camp at age 22, and became for much of the next 16 years his right-hand man in war and peace.”
“He was fort adjutant and aide-de-camp to the Governor-General, Lord Auckland, and left the Indian army with the rank of captain.”
“But today we have some new "buzz,"courtesy of Page Six, speculating that maybe the book was written by longtime McCain speechwriter and aide-de-camp Mark Salter, whose "adjective-filled style is similar to the 'O' author's.”
The Huffington Post: Mark Salter Caught Up In 'O' Speculation
“He should lay in stores for the next campaign and was empowered to appoint an aide-de-camp, military secretary, and other staff officers.”
“When William Fairfax warned him that members of the military committee thought his appointment of an aide-de-camp and military secretary should be disallowed, Washington again hinted at resignation.”
““It cannot reasonably be supposed that I, who am stripped of the help I once was allowed”—meaning his aide-de-camp—“can turn my hands and my thoughts to such a multiplicity of business.””
“Mercer, George 1733–1784, aide-de-camp then company commander under Washington”
“Reed later served as Washingtons cabinet member as well as aide-de-camp.”
“As Washington's military aide-de-camp and later his cabinet consigliere, Hamilton fell comfortably into an appropriate patrician deism, an easy fit with his long standing skepticism toward institutionalized religion.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘aide-de-camp’.
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POL - people in power
daredevil, tzar, king, boss, master, commander, chief, kingpin, top banana, bigwig, big cheese, big wheel and 452 more...
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Hyphen Nation
Terms with multiple hyphens, such as rent-a-crowd. Not intended to be a see-how-many-words-one-can-string-together-with-hyphens-used-adjectively sort of list.
much-talked-of, vis-à-vis, tête-à-tête, rope-a-dope, will-o'-the-wisp, dick-a-tuesday, will-in-the-wisp, jack-o'-lantern, jack-with-a-lantern, ear-to-ear, whack-a-mole, no-man's-land and 205 more...
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for school!
squally, monetization, honorificabilitud..., hornswoggle, collywobbles, slangwhanger, filibuster, cliona, beknow, gallimaufry, sylvan, aide-de-camp and 31 more...
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Trusty Assistants
right-hand man, amanuensis, moonshee, man Friday, PDA, famulus, aide, lieutenant, deputy, Man Friday, girl Friday, reading-boy and 25 more...
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Camp
I'll bring the bug spray and the waterproof matches.
camp, camping, camper, campylobacter, Jane Campion, campy, campesino, Camp David, campfire, camptown, scamp, Hello Muddah, Hel... and 88 more...
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5000 FREE SAT Words
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 229 more...
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Hyphenated Actual Words
These kind of stun me whenever I see them. Language is just so cool.
chuck-will's-widow, will-o-the-wisp, saw-whet, topsy-turvy, linsey-woolsey, ne'er-do-well, gung-ho, so-so, cul-de-sac, fleur-de-lys, service-berry, major-domo and 33 more...
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Foreign
sub poena, stet, salon, raconteur, quorum, quasi, post mortem, per se, parvenu, motif, minutiae, kaput and 17 more...
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French
French words commonly used in English
bien sur, bon mot, tromp l'oeil, roman à clef, à l'outrance, à outrance, outré, chaise longue, aide-de-camp, beau monde, beaux mondes, petits fours and 9 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for aide-de-camp.
bilby I've heard Governors General in Australia, although we never have more than one GG at a time. But used in something like, "Governors General have traditionally had backgrounds in law", it works. Mar 28, 2008
seanahan Like Secretaries General and Chiefs of Staff. Mar 28, 2008
chained_bear ...and its interesting plural, aides-de-camp. Mar 27, 2008