admiral
/ˈædməɹəl/ noun
Also a form of emir
Forms admirals Adm. Adm adml. admyralle amyrall admarall admerell admerolle admirell admyrell amerall ammyrall amral amrell amrelle
- noun (military, now informal) The commander of a naval squadron or fleet, regardless of formal rank.
- noun (military) The appointed commander of a navy, regardless of formal title.
- noun (military) A high rank in the British and American Navies, NATO grade OF-9, equivalent ranks in other navies, in coast guards, etc.
- noun The commander of a fishing or merchant fleet, particularly (historical, Canada) a captain granted special privileges in exchange for bringing the first ship of a given fishing season to certain harbors in Newfoundland.
- noun Any of several species of nymphalid butterflies of the genera Kaniska, Limenitis and Vanessa.
- noun (conchology) The shell of the Conus ammiralis; the cone shells of various other species displaying similarly intricate banding.
- noun (now historical) Synonym of flagship: an admiral's ship in a fleet, the command or largest ship in a naval or commercial fleet.
- noun (now historical, uncommon) Synonym of emir, a Muslim commander or prince.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English admiral etc., from Anglo-Norman and Old French admiral etc., from Medieval Latin admiralis, admirallus, and admiralius, from irregular modification of amiralis etc. under the influence of the prefix ad- and particularly admiror (“to admire, respect”), from Arabic أَمِير (ʔamīr, “commander”) + -alis (“-al”). The ending is frequently but mistakenly folk etymologized to derive from the article ال (al-), particularly in Arabic أَمِير اَلبَحْر (ʔamīr al-baḥr, “commander of the sea”), first attested as a Fatimid office, or in Arabic أَمِير الْمُؤْمِنِين (ʔamīr al-muʔminīn, “Commander of the Believers, caliph”). It seems instead to have been borrowed from modification of only the first term in Arabic أَمِير الْأُمَرَاء (ʔamīr al-ʔumarāʔ, “emir of emirs, commander-in-chief”) as used as a title for important commanders in Norman Sicily in the mid-12th century. First attested as an English rank in reference to Gervase Alard of Winchelsea as "admiral of the fleet of the Cinque Ports". Doublet of emir, amir, Amir, and amira.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A naval officer of the highest rank; a naval officer of high rank, of which there are different grades. The chief gradations in rank are admiral, vice admiral, and rear admiral. The admiral is the commander in chief of a fleet or of fleets.
- noun The ship which carries the admiral; also, the most considerable ship of a fleet.
Etymology [OE. amiral, admiral, OF. amiral, ultimately fr. Ar. amir-al-bahr commander of the sea; Ar. amir is commander, al is the Ar. article, and amir-al, heard in different titles, was taken as one word. Early forms of the word show confusion with L. admirabilis admirable, fr. admirari to admire. It is said to have been introduced into Europe by the Genoese or Venetians, in the 12th or 13th century. Cf. Ameer, Emir.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “admiral”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details