Definition of "non-commissioned officer" []

• A person of authority in the military who has not received a commission (a direct conveyance of authority from the sovereign government); as such they can have charge or control but not command in the most technical use of the word. (noun)

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• "Among other books which help one to an understanding of the Napoleonic soldier I would specially recommend Les Cahiers du Capitaine Coignet, which treat the wars from the point of view of the private of the Guards, and Les Mémoires du Sergeant Bourgoyne, who was a non-commissioned officer in the same corps."
• "If it shall be found that a non-commissioned officer or soldier, discharged by reason of a substiute, is indebted to the government, the commander of the regiment or corps giving the discharge, will be held accountable for the same, and any back pay due said non-commissioned officer or soldier, shall be drawn and receipted for by the substitute at the next pay day."
• "But here was the letter, addressed and re-addressed, now safely in his hands after he had practically snatched it from a stupid Spanish non-commissioned officer who had been puzzling over the strange name."