cadet

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cadet^¹

/kəˈdɛt/ US, UK

Rhymes with -ɛt

Where it comes from

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.

noun cadets

A student at a military school who is training to be an officer.
A 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.
in compounds, in genealogy Junior. (See also the heraldic term cadency.) a cadet branch of the family
US, archaic, slang A young man who makes a business of ruining girls to put them in brothels.
New Zealand, historical A young gentleman learning sheep farming at a station; also, any young man attached to a sheep station.
Australia A participant in a cadetship.

Cadet^²

noun Cadets

alternative Alternative form of Kadet

proper noun Cadets

A surname from French.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: plebe, officer, apprentice, trainee, pupil, student, midshipman, intern, candidate, mentee, probationary, nco, stagiaire, junior, youngest, wannabe

Translations

Every language

noun younger son

Français	puîné
Deutsch	jüngerer Bruder, jüngerer Sohn
Italiano	cadetto

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

中文	學員 /学员 xuéyuán, 軍校生 /军校生 jūnxiàoshēng
Português	cadete
Français	cadet
Deutsch	Kadett, Offiziersanwärter
Italiano	cadetto, allievo ufficiale
Русский	курса́нт kursánt, каде́т kadét, ю́нкер júnker
العربية	تِمْلِيذ عَسْكَرِيّ timlīḏ ʕaskariyy, تِمْلِيذَة عَسْكَرِيَّة

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MLA

"cadet." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cadet. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

cadet. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cadet

Chicago

"cadet." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cadet.

BibTeX

@misc{cadet_2026,
  title = {cadet},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cadet},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}