Rank and file
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
The ordinary members of an organisation or group, as distinct from its leaders and senior officers. Can refer collectively to enlisted military personnel or to ordinary members of any organisation. Rank-and-file is normally hyphenated when it modifies a following noun. Regional use: English military terminology; now international organisational and political English.
Origin
In drilled military formations, a rank is a line of soldiers side by side and a file is a line one behind another. Rank and file named the formation itself by the 1590s, with Merriam-Webster giving 1598 as first known use. It did not immediately carry today's broad organisational meaning: reference evidence dates its use for ordinary or enlisted soldiers to 1796 and its extension to the general membership of nonmilitary bodies to 1860. The modern social contrast is thus later than the old formation terms.
Research Sources
Variants
- The rank and file
- Rank-and-file members
Usage Examples
- The settlement was accepted by union leaders but rejected by the rank and file.
- Rank-and-file members asked for a direct vote on the proposed merger.
- The party's rank and file showed less enthusiasm than its national officers.