cadet

ca·det
C3A1D2E1T1
US, UK/kəˈdɛt/

noun

A student at a military school who is training to be an officer.

“a cadet branch of the family”

Similar
plebe
OriginFrench cadet ← Late Latin capitellum →
Less commonScrabble 8
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Meanings

cadet1

nouncadet (plural cadets)

plural cadets

  1. A student at a military school who is training to be an officer.
  2. historyA younger or youngest son, who would not inherit as a firstborn son would.

    Bertram is certainly well off for a cadet of even a Baronet's family. By the time he is four or five and twenty he will have seven hundred a year, and nothing to do for it.

    1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter V, in Mansfield Park: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 114
  3. in compoundsJunior. (See also the heraldic term cadency.)

    a cadet branch of the family

  4. USarchaicslangA young man who makes a business of ruining girls to put them in brothels.
  5. New ZealandhistoricalA young gentleman learning sheep farming at a station; also, any young man attached to a sheep station.
  6. AustraliaA participant in a cadetship.

Cadet2

nounCadet (plural Cadets)

plural Cadets

  1. alternativeAlternative form of Kadet
proper nounCadet (plural Cadets)

plural Cadets

  1. A surname from French.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna military trainee (as at a military academy)

Similar
plebe
Broader
trainee
Also see
caddieplebe

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Late Latincapitellum“small head”
  2. Frenchcadet
  3. Englishcadet

Borrowed from French cadet, from Gascon capdet, from Late Latin capitellum (“small head”). Attested in English from 1634. Doublet of caddie, cadeau, cadel, capital, capitellum, and caudillo.

More words from French, Late Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic تِمْلِيذ عَسْكَرِيّ, تِمْلِيذَة عَسْكَرِيَّة
  • تِمْلِيذ عَسْكَرِيّ (timlīḏ ʕaskariyy)a student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • تِمْلِيذَة عَسْكَرِيَّةa student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Bulgarian каде́т, ю́нкер
  • каде́т (kadét)a student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • ю́нкер (júnker)a student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Catalan cadet
  • cadeta student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Chinese Mandarin 學員 /学员, 軍校生 /军校生
  • 學員 /学员 (xuéyuán)a student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • 軍校生 /军校生 (jūnxiàoshēng)a student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Danish kadet, yngre søn
  • kadeta student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • yngre sønyounger son
Esperanto kadeto
  • kadetoa student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Finnish kadetti
  • kadettia student at a military school who is training to be an officer
French cadet, puîné
  • cadeta student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • puînéyounger son
German Kadett, Offiziersanwärter
  • Kadetta student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • Offiziersanwärtera student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • jüngerer Bruderyounger son
  • jüngerer Sohnyounger son
Hungarian kadéta, kadét
  • kadétaa student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • kadéta student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Icelandic kadett
  • kadetta student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Irish dalta, dalta airm
  • daltaa student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • dalta airma student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Italian cadetto, allievo ufficiale
  • cadettoa student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • allievo ufficialea student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • cadettoyounger son
Lithuanian kariūnas
  • kariūnasa student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Māori hōia tauira, tama hōia
  • hōia tauiraa student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • tama hōiaa student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Norwegian Bokmål kadett
  • kadetta student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Persian دانشجوی افسری
  • دانشجوی افسری (dânešju-ye afsari)a student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Polish kadet, junior
  • kadeta student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • junioryounger son
Portuguese cadete
  • cadetea student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Russian курса́нт, каде́т
  • курса́нт (kursánt)a student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • каде́т (kadét)a student at a military school who is training to be an officer
  • ю́нкер (júnker)a student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Scottish Gaelic òglach
  • òglacha student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Swedish kadett
  • kadetta student at a military school who is training to be an officer
Tagalog kadete
  • kadetea student at a military school who is training to be an officer

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with cadet

getsetinternetletyetnetdebtpetmetheatforgetthreatjetbetoffsetroulettecassetteresetbrunettecigarettebethgazetteateupset
All rhymes →

Anagrams

ectad
Cite this entry
APA

cadet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cadet

MLA

“cadet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cadet. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cadet,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cadet.

Source: cadet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.