colonel
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: 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.
Inflected forms:
form: colonels
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: coronel
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: col.
pos: noun
tags: alternative
abbreviation
form: Col.
pos: noun
tags: alternative
abbreviation
form: colonels
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: coloneling
pos: verb
tags: US
participle
present
form: colonelling
pos: verb
tags: UK
participle
present
form: coloneled
pos: verb
tags: US
participle
past
form: coloneled
pos: verb
tags: US
past
form: colonelled
pos: verb
tags: UK
participle
past
form: colonelled
pos: verb
tags: UK
past
form: coronel
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: col.
pos: verb
tags: alternative
abbreviation
form: Col.
pos: verb
tags: alternative
abbreviation
Senses:
gloss: 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).
pos: noun
examples: 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.
gloss: A military leader, distinct from the modern professional military rank.
pos: noun
tags: historical
examples: General Charles-Maximilian Fiennes was made colonel of the army.
gloss: An honorary civilian title bestowed by some southern US states, most commonly Kentucky; notably Colonel Sanders of KFC.
pos: noun
examples: "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.
gloss: An informal title used to address an elderly man.
pos: noun
tags: Southern-US
dated
gloss: A form of address for an auctioneer, from the American Civil War practice of commanding officers organizing the public sale of seized goods.
pos: noun
tags: US
gloss: To act as or like a colonel.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Then did Sir Knight abandon dwelling,
 And out he rode Colonelling.
Related words: colonelcy
colonel-general
royal colonel
Derived words: bird colonel
chickens for Colonel Sanders
colonel commandant
coloneless
colonel general
colonel-in-chief
colonelship
full colonel
full eagle colonel
half-colonel
honorary colonel
Kentucky colonel
lieutenant colonel
senior colonel
Translations: