Leutnant

Etymology
From, from    (“to keep the position of”). Early on, the form was folk-etymologically reshaped, the first syllable being associated with, the last syllable sometimes with. The normal spoken form in German has been Leut(e)nant since the 17th century, although the French spelling Lieutenant remained common and became standard in the 19th century. The contemporary spelling was introduced in the German Empire in 1899 amid rising Franco-German tensions and a general trend of Germanification.

Noun

 * 1) lieutenant

Usage notes

 * The normal plural used to be Leutnants. Today both forms are roughly equally common. The preference seems to depend somewhat on stress patterns, meaning that is more frequent in the simplex than in compounds.