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Origin and history of generalship

generalship(n.)

1590s, "the functions of a general" (a sense now obsolete); 1620s, "the office of a general;" from general (n.) + -ship. The meaning "management of an army; the military skill or conduct of a commander" is by 1770.

also from 1590s

Entries linking to generalship

general(n.)

late 14c., "whole class of things or persons, a broad classification, a general truth," from general (adj.). Meaning "commander of an army" is 1570s, shortening of captain general, from French capitaine général. The English adjective was affixed to civic officer designations by late 14c. to indicate superior rank and extended jurisdiction.

-ship

word-forming element meaning "quality, condition; act, power, skill; office, position; relation between," Middle English -schipe, from Old English -sciepe, Anglian -scip "state, condition of being," from Proto-Germanic *-skepi- (cognates: Old Norse -skapr, Danish -skab, Old Frisian -skip, Dutch -schap, German -schaft), from *skap- "to create, ordain, appoint," from PIE root *(s)kep-, forming words meaning "to cut, scrape, hack" (see shape (v.)). It often forms abstracts to go with corresponding concretes (friend/friendship, etc.).

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    Trends of generalship

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    billet
    1590s, "to assign quarters to, to direct (a soldier) by note to a lodging place," from a noun meaning "a ticket given by a military officer directing a person to whom it is addressed to provide board and lodging for the soldier carrying it" (1640s). This was a specific use of the
    position
    late 14c., posicioun, as a term in logic and philosophy, "statement of belief, the laying down of a proposition or thesis," from Old French posicion "position, supposition" (Modern French position) and directly from Latin positionem (nominative positio) "act or fact of placing, s
    office
    mid-13c., "a post in government or administration, an employment to which certain duties are attached, secular position of authority or responsibility," from Anglo-French and Old French ofice "place or function; divine service" (12c. in Old French) and directly from Latin officiu
    berth
    1620s, "convenient sea room" (Bailey's dictionary), for ships or for sailors, a word of uncertain origin, probably from bear (v.) + abstract noun suffix -th (2) as in strength, health, etc. The original sense is preserved in the figurative phrase give (something or someone) wide
    place
    c. 1200, "space, dimensional extent, room, area," from Old French place "place, spot" (12c.) and directly from Medieval Latin placea "place, spot," from Latin platea "courtyard, open space; broad way, avenue," from Greek plateia (hodos) "broad (way)," fem. of platys "broad," from
    situation
    early 15c., situacioun, "place, position, or location," from Old French situacion or directly from Medieval Latin situationem (nominative situatio) "a position, situation," noun of action from past-participle stem of situare "to place, locate," from Latin situs "a place, position
    post
    "a timber of considerable size set upright," from Old English post "pillar, doorpost," and from Old French post "post, upright beam," both from Latin postis "door, post, doorpost," in Medieval Latin "a beam, rod, pole," which is perhaps from Vulgar Latin *por- "forth," a variant
    spot
    c. 1200, "moral stain;" by mid-14c. as "speck, stain left by something on a surface;" probably at least in part from a variant of Old English splott "a spot, blot, patch (of land)," and partly from or related to Middle Dutch spotte "spot, speck." Other cognates are East Frisian s
    stop
    Middle English stoppen, "obstruct (a passage) with a physical barrier; close up by filling, stuffing, or plugging," from Old English -stoppian (in forstoppian "to stop up, stifle"), a general West Germanic word, cognate with Old Saxon stuppon, West Frisian stopje, Middle Low Germ
    pandemic
    of diseases, "incident to a whole people or region," 1660s, from Late Latin pandemus, from Greek pandemos "pertaining to all people; public, common," from pan- "all" (see pan-) + dēmos "people" (see demotic). Modeled on epidemic; OED reports that it is "Distinguished from epidemi

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