| an executive officer of a legislative or other body, whose duty it is to enforce its commands, preserve order, etc. |
| sergeant at arms n. pl. sergeants at arms An officer appointed to keep order within an organization, such as a legislative, judicial, or social body. |
sergeant at arms
an officer of a legislative body, court of law, or other organization who preserves order and executes commands. In feudal England a sergeant at arms was an armed officer of a lord and was often one of a special body required to be in immediate attendance on the king's person, to arrest traitors and other offenders. Through this function, the title of sergeant at arms eventually came to denote certain court, parliamentary, and city officials with ceremonial (and ostensibly disciplinary) functions. Each house of the British Parliament has a sergeant at arms, as does each house of the U.S. Congress. The duties of the sergeant at arms in the British House of Commons include attendance on the speaker, with the mace, and the maintenance of order in the House and its precincts. The sergeants of the U.S. Congress have similar duties
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