Editing Lieutenant (section)

{{Short description|Commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces}}
{{For|the German-language equivalent|Leutnant}}
{{Redirect|Tenente|the bridge|Rooster Bridge}}
{{Military ranks}}

A '''lieutenant''' ({{IPAc-en|uk|l|ɛ|f|'|t|ɛ|n|ən|t}} {{Respell|lef|TEN|ənt}}, {{IPAc-en|us|l|u:|-}} {{Respell|loo|-}};<ref>{{cite book|last=Wells|first=John|author-link=John C. Wells|title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary|publisher=Pearson Longman|edition=3rd|date=3 April 2008|isbn=978-1-4058-8118-0}}</ref> abbreviated '''Lt.''', '''Lt''', '''LT''', '''Lieut''' and similar) is a [[Junior officer|junior commissioned officer]] rank in the [[armed forces]] of many nations, as well as [[fire service]]s, [[emergency medical services]], [[Security agency|security services]] and [[police]] forces.

The rank in armies and air forces is often subdivided into subcategories of seniority. In [[Comparative navy officer ranks of Anglophone countries|English-speaking navies]], lieutenants are often equivalent to the army rank of [[Captain (armed forces)|captain]]; in other navies, the lieutenants are usually equal to their army counterparts.

''Lieutenant'' may also appear as part of a title used in various other organisations with a codified command structure. It often designates someone who is "[[second-in-command]]", and as such, may precede the name of the rank directly above it. For example, a "lieutenant master" is likely to be second-in-command to the "master" in an organisation using both ranks.

Political uses include [[lieutenant governor]] in various governments, such as the [[Lieutenant Governor (Canada)|viceregal representatives]] of the [[Monarchy of Canada|Crown]] in [[Canadian provinces]]. In the [[United Kingdom]], a [[lord lieutenant]] is the sovereign's representative in a county or [[lieutenancy area]], while a [[deputy lieutenant]] is one of the lord lieutenant's deputies.