ca·det

/kəˈdet/
noun

1. a young trainee in the armed services or police force.
2. formal•archaic
   a younger son or daughter.
   • a junior branch of a family.
3. a.) a younger brother or son
   b.) youngest son
   c.) a younger branch of a family or a member of it

Origin

early 17th century (in cadet (sense 2)): from French, from Gascon dialect capdet, a diminutive based on Latin caput ‘head’. The notion ‘little head’ or ‘inferior head’ gave rise to that of ‘younger, junior’.

#domain, #cadet