Meanings
plural adjutants
- An assistant.First known use 1622
- stricto sensugovernmentA lower-ranking officer who assists a higher-ranking officer with administrative affairs.First known use 1641
- biologyEither the greater or the lesser adjutant, stork species of the genus Leptoptilos, family Ciconiidae, native to India and Southeast Asia.First known use 1798
Aquatic birds of various kinds are very numerous, such as geese, darters (Plotus melanogaster), scissor-bills (Rhynchops nigra), adjutants (Leptoptilos argala), pelicans, cormorants, cranes (Grus antigone, in Burmese gyoja), whimbrels, plovers, and ibises.
1876, "Burmah" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, p. 552Synonyms: adjutant bird
Synonyms & antonyms
nounEither the greater or the lesser adjutant, stork species of the genus Leptoptilos, family Ciconiidae, native to India and Southeast Asia.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan officer who acts as military assistant to a more senior officer
nounlarge Indian stork with a military gait
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinadiūtō“to help, assist”
- Portugueseajudante“assistant, helper, aide”
- Spanishayudante
- Englishadjutant
Probably in part from Spanish ayudante and in part from Portuguese ajudante (“assistant, helper, aide”), nominal uses of present participial adjectives from respectively ayudar and ajudar, from Latin adiūtō (“to help, assist”), with remodeling after its present participle adiūtāns (acc. adiūtantem). The stork's name is derived from the military sense, owing to its marchlike stiff gait when on ground.
More words from Spanish, Portuguese, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 副官
- 副官 (fùguān)lower-ranking officer
Czech pobočník
- pobočníklower-ranking officer
Dutch adjudant, maraboe
- adjudantlower-ranking officer
- maraboestork of genus Leptoptilos
Esperanto adjutanto
- adjutantolower-ranking officer
Estonian abi, asjaajaja
- abiassistant
- asjaajajaassistant
- assistentassistant
- sekretärassistant
- käsundusohvitserlower-ranking officer
- adjutantlower-ranking officer
- marabustork of genus Leptoptilos
Finnish adjutantti, avustaja
- adjutanttiassistant
- avustajaassistant
- adjutanttilower-ranking officer
French adjudant
- adjudantlower-ranking officer
German Assistent, Adjutant
- Assistentassistant
- Adjutantlower-ranking officer
Greek υπασπιστής
- υπασπιστής (ypaspistís)assistant
Indonesian ajudan, ajudan
- ajudanassistant
- ajudanlower-ranking officer
Irish aidiúnach
- aidiúnachlower-ranking officer
Japanese 禿鸛
- 禿鸛 (hagekou)stork of genus Leptoptilos
Korean 부관
- 부관 (bugwan)lower-ranking officer
Latin optiō
- optiōlower-ranking officer
Malay ajutan
- ajutanlower-ranking officer
Māori āpiha kaiāwhina, āpiha kaiāwhina
- āpiha kaiāwhinaassistant
- āpiha kaiāwhinalower-ranking officer
Persian آجودان
- آجودان (âjudân)lower-ranking officer
Polish adiutant, adiutantka
- adiutantlower-ranking officer
- adiutantkalower-ranking officer
Romanian adjutant
- adjutantlower-ranking officer
Russian помо́щник, подру́чный
- помо́щник (pomóščnik)assistant
- подру́чный (podrúčnyj)assistant
- адъюта́нт (adʺjutánt)lower-ranking officer
- марабу́ (marabú)stork of genus Leptoptilos
Spanish ayudante
- ayudantelower-ranking officer
Turkish yaver
- yaverassistant
Cite this entry
adjutant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adjutant
“adjutant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adjutant. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “adjutant,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adjutant.
Source: adjutant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.