Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SER'GEANT, n. [sarjent; Fr. sergent; It. sergente; and Port. sargento; from L. serviens, serving, for so was this word written in Latin. But Castle deduces the word from the Persian سَرْجَنک sarchank or sarjank, a prefect, a subaltern military officer. See Cast. Col. 336. If this is correct, two different words are blended.]

1. Formerly, an officer in England, nearly answering to the more modern bailif of the hundred; also, an officer whose duty was to attend on the king, and the lord high steward in court, to arrest traitors and other offenders. This officer is now called sergeant at arms, or mace. There are at present other officers of an inferior kind, who attend mayors and magistrates to execute their orders.
2. In military affairs, a non-commissioned officer in a company of infantry or troop of dragoons, armed with a halberd, whose duty is to see discipline observed, to order and form the ranks, &c.
3. In England, a lawyer of the highest rank, and answering to the doctor of the civil law. – Blackstone.
4. A title sometimes given to the king's servants; as, sergeant surgeon, servant surgeon. – Johnson.