1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Aide-de-Camp

AIDE-DE-CAMP (Fr. for camp-assistant or, perhaps, field assistant), an officer of the personal staff of a general, who acts as his confidential secretary in routine matters. In Great Britain the office of aide-de-camp to the king is given as a reward or an honorary distinction. In many foreign armies the word adjutant is used for an aide-de-camp, and adjutant general for a royal aide-de-camp. The common abbreviation for aide-de-camp in the British service is “A.D.C.,” and in the United States “aid.” Civil governors, such as the lord lieutenant of Ireland, have also, as a rule, officers on their staffs with the title and functions of aides-de-camp.