Editing Constable (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Constable Dannatt.jpg|thumb|left|[[Richard Dannatt, Baron Dannatt|General Sir Richard Dannatt]], dressed in the [[formal attire]] of the [[Constable of the Tower]], speaking at the Ceremony of the Constable's Dues, June 2010]]
Historically, the title comes from the [[Latin]] ''[[comes stabuli]]'' ([[comes|attendant]] to the [[stable]]s, literally 'count of the stable') and originated from the [[Roman Empire]]; originally, the constable was the officer responsible for keeping the horses of a [[lord]] or [[monarch]].<ref name="kofk">p103, Bruce, Alistair, ''Keepers of the Kingdom'' (Cassell, 2002), {{ISBN|0-304-36201-8}}</ref><ref name="eb">[https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9025958/constable Constable], Encyclopædia Britannica online</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= The Principles of Policing, p. 7|author= Pike, Michael S|publisher= The Macmillan Press Ltd|year= 1985|isbn= 0-333-38245-5}}</ref>

The title was imported to the [[monarchy|monarchies]] of [[Middle Ages|medieval]] Europe, and in many countries developed into a high [[military rank]] and great officer of state (e.g. the [[Constable of France]], in French ''Connétable de France'', who was the commander-in-chief of all royal armed forces (second to the king) until Prime Minister [[Cardinal Richelieu]] abolished the charge in 1627).

Most constables in modern jurisdictions are [[Police|law enforcement]] officers. In the United Kingdom, the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] and some Continental European countries, a constable is the lowest rank of police officer (it is also, when preceded by the term ''sworn'', used to describe any police officer with arrest and other powers), while in the United States a constable is generally an elected [[peace officer]] with lesser jurisdiction than a [[sheriff]]; however, in the [[Channel Islands]] a constable is an elected office-holder at the [[civil parish|parish]] level.

Historically, a constable could also refer to a [[castellan]], the officer charged with the defence of a castle. Even today, there is a [[Constable of the Tower of London]].

An equivalent position is that of [[marshal]], which derives from [[Old High German]] ''marah'' ('horse') and ''schalh'' ('servant'),<ref>{{cite book|title=Chambers 20th Century Dictionary|editor=E. M. Kirkpatrick|publisher=W & R Chambers Ltd|location=Edinburgh|year=1983|page=772|isbn=0-550-10234-5}}</ref> and originally meant "stable keeper",<ref>Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, Leipzig 1854–1960, Vol. 12 Col. 1673 [http://germazope.uni-trier.de/Projects/WBB/woerterbuecher/dwb/wbgui?lemmode=lemmasearch&amp;mode=hierarchy&amp;textsize=600&amp;onlist=&amp;word=Marschall&amp;lemid=GM01765&amp;query_start=1&amp;totalhits=0&amp;textword=&amp;locpattern=&amp;textpattern=&amp;lemmapattern=&amp;verspattern=#GM01765L0 Online-Version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021050746/http://germazope.uni-trier.de/Projects/WBB/woerterbuecher/dwb/wbgui?lemmode=lemmasearch&mode=hierarchy&textsize=600&onlist=&word=Marschall&lemid=GM01765&query_start=1&totalhits=0&textword=&locpattern=&textpattern=&lemmapattern=&verspattern=#GM01765L0 |date=2016-10-21 }}</ref> which has a similar etymology.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/marshal |title=marshal |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=2018-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803131944/https://www.etymonline.com/word/marshal |archive-date=2018-08-03 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref>