The story
- Old French · derived fromlieu“place”
- Anglo-Norman · derived fromlieutenant
- Middle English · inherited fromlieutenant
- English todaylieutenant
From Middle English lieutenant, lieftenaunt, from Anglo-Norman lieutenant, lyutenaunt, leu tenant, leu tenaunt (“deputy, lieutenant”), from Old French lieu (“place”) + tenant (“holder”). Doublet of locum tenens and stadtholder.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.