cadet|kəˈdɛt|[a. F. cadet, in 15th c. capdet, a.Pr.capdet:—Romanic type *capitetto,dim.of L. caput, capit- head; hence, little chief, inferior head of a family.Cf.also cadee, caddie, cad.]1. a.A younger son or brother.1610HollandCamden'sBrit.i. 463From a younger brother or cadet of this house.
1671CrowneJulianaEp.Ded.A iv,Leave that as a thread-bare portion to the Cadets.
1689SwiftOde to TempleWks.1755 IV. i. 245Poor we, cadets of heaven, Take up at best with lumber.
a1726VanbrughFalseFr.i. i,I am a cadet, and by consequence not rich.
1868FreemanNorm.Conq. (1876) II. viii. 210Spiritual preferments being turned into means of maintenance for cadets or bastards of the royal house.
b.A younger branch of a family; a member of a younger branch.1690LockeGovt.i. ix. §25A Cadet, or Sister's Son, must have the Preference.
1726WodrowCorr.(1843) III. 238,I suppose his family was a cadet of your Lordship's family.
c.The youngest son.1646Sir T. BrownePseud.Ep.348Joseph was the youngest of twelve, and David the eleventh sonne, and but the caddet of Jesse.
1748SmollettRod. Rand. (1812) I. 19The cadet of a family.
2. a.A gentleman who entered the army without a commission, to learn the military profession and find a career for himself (as was regularly done by the younger sons of the French nobility before the Revolution).b.A junior in the East India Company's service. See also caddee, caddie.1651HowellVenice 7This may be one reason why she connives at so many Courtisans for the use of the Cadett-gentlemen.
[1652EvelynSt.FranceMisc.Writ.(1805) 84The cadets and younger brothers minding for the most part no greater preferments than what they cut out with their sword.]
1690B. E.Dict.Cant.Crew, Cadet, or Cadee, a Gentleman that Bears Arms in hopes of a Commission.
1691Lond.Gaz.No.2719/2The Elector of Saxony..adds a Company of Cadets.
1704Hymn to Victory lxx. 7She serves Cadet and Voluntier.
1768T. SimesMil.Medley,A cadet serves without pay.
1772FooteNabob i. 9Go out Cadets and Writers in the Company's Service.
1816‘Quiz’Grand Master i. 10His kit's pack'd up, and off he's set, To try his fortune—a cadet.
3. a.A student in a military or naval college.1775SwinburneTrav.Spain xliv. (L.)The royal apartments are now occupied by a college of young gentlemen cadets, educated at the king's expence.
1788Ld.Auckland Diary in Corr.(1861) II. 91An establishment of one hundred young cadets for the army.
a1845HoodTo J. Hume iv,Watch Sandhurst too, its debts and its Cadets.
1860DickensLett.(1880) II. 122Sydney has just passed his examination as a naval cadet.
b.A boy in an ordinary school who receives military training with or without a view to entering the army. Also attrib., as cadet corps, a company of schoolboys who receive such training.1873Programme of Review at Charterhouse School 6 Aug.,The young gentlemen (or Charterhouse Cadets) will be drawn up in Line at Open Order on the Cricket Ground.
1901Public SchoolMag.Mar. 215The Cadet Corps paraded in front of the school and stood ‘at rest’ while the band played ‘The Land o' the Leal’.
1957Times 3 Dec. 12/3Cadet corps in Birmingham schools came under fire from many members of the city education committee to-day.
4.N.Z.A young man learning sheep-farming on a sheep-station. Hence caˈdet(t)ing vbl.n.1842R. G. JamesonN.Z., S. Aust. & N.S.W. xxiv. 337We[are]in want of a college for colonial cadets.
1862E. R. ChudleighDiary 21 Mar. (1950) i. 29There were four Cadets learning sheepfarming.
1898H. B. VogelMaori Maid xix. 147A cadet is a young man, generally from England, who is paying a run-holder so much a year for the honour and privilege of working for him.
Ibid.xix. 148Otherwise cadetting..is a swindle.
1930L. G. D. AclandEarly Canterbury Runs ii. 23Reginald Wade managed for the Chamberlains, and at one time had no fewer than ten cadets on the station.
