Unknown Soldier

noun

an unidentified soldier killed in battle and buried with honors, the tomb serving as a memorial to all the unidentified dead of a nation's armed forces. The tomb of the American Unknown Soldier, commemorating a serviceman killed in World War I, was established in the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia in 1921. In 1958, the remains of personnel of World War II and the Korean War were buried alongside the tomb (now called the Tomb of the Unknowns ). In 1984, a serviceman of the Vietnam War was interred next to the others.

Unknown Soldier

(in various countries) an unidentified soldier who has died in battle and for whom a tomb is established as a memorial to other unidentified dead of the nation's armed forces

First recorded in 1920–25

Browse