A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary."mercenary." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 16 May. 2009. . In most languages, "soldier" includes commissioned and non-commissioned officers in national land forces. Non-English equivalents The common Roman's origin for the words soldier and payment survives not only in F… (More on Soldier)