veld cornet, noun phrase

/ˈfelt kɔːnət/
Forms:
Also feld cornet, feldt cornet, and with initial capital.
Origin:
South African DutchShow more Partial translation of South African Dutch veld kornet, see veld-kornet.
historical
field cornet sense 1. Also attributive.
1806 Cape Town Gaz. & Afr. Advertiser 1 Feb.I do hereby order all Farmers or others, in possession of Horses procured from the Batavian Dragoons..to give up the same forthwith, to the nearest Landdrosts, or Veld Cornets.
a1823 J. Ewart Jrnl (1970) 41This magistrate has a petty officer, called a feldt cornet, in every different division of the district, whose duty is to look into all crimes and abuses committed within his ward.
1846 J.C. Brown tr. of T. Arbousset’s Narr. of Explor. Tour to N.-E. of Col. 350He went to the drinking place of a veldcornet, a kind of country magistrate.
1877 J. Noble S. Afr. 17The ‘veld-cornets’ chosen from amongst the most respectable of the inhabitants..were vested with the power..to collect a force.
1886 G.A. Farini Through Kalahari Desert 105Outside the huts stood the proprietor, a fine looking, goodnatured old man.., holding the office of ‘veldt cornet,’ a kind of magistrate among the Bastards.
1900 M. Marquard Lett. from Boer Parsonage (1967) 72The veldcornet entered and was evidently much annoyed at his presumption, calling him away.
1908 M.C. Bruce New Tvl 20Then began the dismissal of British civil servants and the reintroduction of the old Feld Cornet system.
1914 Rand Daily Mail 21 Dec.One rebel..was killed, Veld Cornet Adam Bezuidenhout and two others being captured.
a1930 G. Baumann in Baumann & Bright Lost Republic (1940) 167When war was declared and the commandos called up for field service, the old elected Commandants took command of their different districts, with veld-cornets as seconds in command.
1951 J. Wedgewood Last of Radicals 61They habitually move at a gallop.., Barend Smit, J.P. and ex-Veldtcornet, with a flying Cape Cart wildly challenging me to a..race.
1962 F.C. Metrowich Scotty Smith 45There was a police post under a veldcornet and half a dozen men.
1982 Sunday Times 16 MayShortly after the fall of Bloemfontein, his elder brother, a chief veld cornet, came to get him.
field cornet sense 1. Also attributive.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

18061982

Browse Related Words

By Category

Occupations
Colonial

By Usage

historical
veld commandant, noun phrasen. phr.veld cornetcy, noun phrasen. phr.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English