colonel
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See also: Colonel
English
Alternative forms
- coronel (obsolete)
- col., Col. (abbreviation)
Etymology
First attested 1548, from Middle French coronnel, from Old Italian colonnello (“the officer of a small company of soldiers (column) that marched at the head of a regiment”), from compagnia colonnella (“little column company”), from Latin columna (“pillar”), originally a collateral form of columen, contraction culmen (“a pillar, top, crown, summit”), o-grade form from a Proto-Indo-European *kelH- (“to rise, be elevated, be prominent”). See hill, holm.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkɜːnəl/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈkɝnəl/
Audio (US) (file) - Homophone: kernel
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nəl
The anomalous pronunciation is probably a holdover of the pronunciation of the earlier, obsolete form coronel.
Noun
colonel (plural colonels)
- A commissioned officer in an armed military organization, typically the highest rank before flag officer ranks (generals). It is generally found in armies, air forces or naval infantry (marines).
- 1908, W B M Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
- The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast: Greystone long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it. […] But there was not a more lascivious reprobate and gourmand in all London than this same Greystone.
Usage notes
- When used as a title, it is always capitalized.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
commissioned office in the armed services
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Verb
colonel (third-person singular simple present colonels, present participle coloneling or colonelling, simple past and past participle coloneled or colonelled)
- (intransitive) To act as or like a colonel.
French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Italian colonnello. Compare Middle French coronel, borrowed earlier from the same source. See English colonel for more.
Pronunciation
Noun
colonel m (plural colonels, feminine colonelle)
- a colonel, highest commissioned officer below generals
- an ice cream dessert consisting of lemon sherbet and vodka
Related terms
Further reading
- “colonel”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
Romanian
Etymology 1
Borrowed from French colonel, from Middle French coronel, which see.
Noun
colonel m (plural colonei)
- colonel (military officer above lieutenant-colonel and below all generals)
Declension
Declension of colonel
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
| nominative/accusative | (un) colonel | colonelul | (niște) colonei | coloneii |
| genitive/dative | (unui) colonel | colonelului | (unor) colonei | coloneilor |
| vocative | colonelule | coloneilor | ||
Etymology 2
Noun
colonel n (uncountable)
- glyph (a letter in a type of font)
Declension
declension of colonel (singular only)
| singular | ||
|---|---|---|
| n gender | indefinite articulation | definite articulation |
| nominative/accusative | (un) colonel | colonelul |
| genitive/dative | (unui) colonel | colonelului |
| vocative | colonelule | |