colonel
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
colonel¹
- /ˈkɜːnəl/ UK
- [ˈkɜːnl̩] ~ [ˈkəː.nl̩] UK
- /ˈkəːnəl/ British, Southern, Standard
- [ˈkəːnl̩] British, Southern, Standard
- /ˈkøːnəl/ UK, Wales
- [ˈkøːnl̩] ~ [ˈkœːnl̩] UK, Wales
- /ˈkʌɾnəl/ Scotland, UK
- [ˈkʌɾnl̩] Scotland, UK
- /ˈkeːnəl/ UK
- [ˈkeːnl̩] ~ [ˈkɛːnl̩] ~ [ˈkɜːnl̩] UK
- /ˈkɛːnəl/ UK
- [ˈkɛːnl̩] ~ [ˈkɛ̠ːnl̩] UK
- /ˈkɝnəl/ US
- [ˈkɝnl̩] US
- /ˈkɜːnəl/ Australia
- [ˈkɜːnl̩] Australia
- /ˈkøːnəl/ New Zealand
- [ˈkøːnl̩] ~ [ˈkœːnl̩] New Zealand
Sounds like kernel (fern–fir–fur merger) · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)nəl
Where it comes from
First attested in the 1540s, 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.
The French spelling was reformed late 16th century. The English spelling was modified in 1580s in learned writing to conform to the Italian form (via translations of Italian military manuals), and differing pronunciations (either with "r" or "l") coexisted until around 1650, where it came to be pronounced with "r" only. Spanish and Portuguese coronel, also from Italian, shows similar evolution by dissimilation and perhaps by influence of corona.
noun colonels · coronel · col. · Col.
- 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). 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.
- A military leader, distinct from the modern professional military rank. General Charles-Maximilian Fiennes was made colonel of the army.
- An honorary civilian title bestowed by some southern US states, most commonly Kentucky; notably Colonel Sanders of KFC. "Colonel" was often used as an honorific, indicating no actual military service: between 1792 and 1916, according to Ron Bryant, a curator at the Kentucky Historical Society, 400 of the 650 colonels commissioned were honorary.
- An informal title used to address an elderly man.
- A form of address for an auctioneer, from the American Civil War practice of commanding officers organizing the public sale of seized goods.
verb colonels · coloneling · colonelling · coloneled · colonelled
- To act as or like a colonel. Then did Sir Knight abandon dwelling, And out he rode Colonelling.
Colonel²
Where it comes from
Capitalization of colonel.
noun Colonels
- The military officer title. Consequently the necessity for the reorganization of the Guard, during the ten months’ absence of yourself and Colonels Smith and Banks, could not have been averted under our present Military Code.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: lieutenant-colonel, brigadier, regiment, commandant, commander, captain, commodore, parker, parkway, chief, skipper, sir, leader, kernel, raffler, colon
Translations
Every language
noun commissioned office in the armed services
| Español | coronel |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 대령 daeryeong, 상좌 sangjwa |
| 日本語 | 大佐 taisa |
| 中文 | 上校 shàngxiào |
| हिन्दी | कर्नल karnal |
| Português | coronel |
| Français | colonel |
| Deutsch | Oberst |
| Italiano | colonnello |
| Ελληνικά | συνταγματάρχης syntagmatárchis, σμήναρχος smínarchos |
| Română | colonel, polcovnic |
| Русский | полко́вник polkóvnik |
| Tiếng Việt | đại tá |
| العربية | عَقِيد ʕaqīd, زَعِيم zaʕīm, زَعِيم رُتْبَة zaʕīm rutba, كُولُونِيل kulunīl |
| עברית | אַלּוּף מִשְׁנֶה alúf mishné |
Talk about this word "colonel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/colonel. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. colonel. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/colonel "colonel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/colonel.Cite this
@misc{colonel_2026,
title = {colonel},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/colonel},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
