资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Lieutenant \Lieu*ten"ant\ (l[-u]*t[e^]n"ant), n. [F., fr. lieu
   place + tenant holding, p. pr. of tenir to hold, L. tenere.
   See {Lieu}, and {Tenant}, and cf. {Locum Tenens}.]
   1. An officer who supplies the place of a superior in his
      absence; a representative of, or substitute for, another
      in the performance of any duty.

            The lawful magistrate, who is the vicegerent or
            lieutenant of God.                    --Abp.
                                                  Bramhall.

   2.
      (a) A commissioned officer in the army, next below a
          captain.
      (b) A commissioned officer in the British navy, in rank
          next below a commander.
      (c) A commissioned officer in the United States navy, in
          rank next below a lieutenant commander.

   Note: Lieutenant is often used, either adjectively or in
         hyphened compounds, to denote an officer, in rank next
         below another, especially when the duties of the higher
         officer may devolve upon the lower one; as, lieutenant
         general, or lieutenant-general; lieutenant colonel, or
         lieutenant-colonel; lieutenant governor, etc.

   {Deputy lieutenant}, the title of any one of the deputies or
      assistants of the lord lieutenant of a county. [Eng.]

   {Lieutenant colonel}, an army officer next in rank above
      major, and below colonel.

   {Lieutenant commander}, an officer in the United States navy,
      in rank next below a commander and next above a
      lieutenant.

   {Lieutenant general}. See in Vocabulary.

   {Lieutenant governor}.
      (a) An officer of a State, being next in rank to the
          governor, and, in case of the death or resignation of
          the latter, himself acting as governor. [U. S.]
      (b) A deputy governor acting as the chief civil officer of
          one of several colonies under a governor general.
          [Eng.]

Lieutenant general \Lieu*ten"ant gen"er*al\ (j[e^]n"[~e]r*al).
   An army officer in rank next below a general and next above a
   major general.

   Note: In the United States, before the civil war, this rank
         had been conferred only on George Washington and (in
         brevet) on Winfield Scott. In 1864 it was revived by
         Congress and conferred on Ulysses S. Grant, and
         subsequently, by promotion, on William T. Sherman and
         Philip H. Sheridan, each of whom was advanced to the
         rank of {general of the army}. When Sheridan was made
         general (in 1888) the rank of lieutenant general was
         suffered to lapse. See {General}.

资料来源 : WordNet®

lieutenant general
     n : a general officer ranking above a major general and below a
         full general