admiral
pronunciation
How to pronounce admiral in British English:
UK [ˈædmərəl]
How to pronounce admiral in American English:
US [ˈædmərəl]
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- Noun:
- the supreme commander of a fleet; ranks above a vice admiral and below a fleet admiral
- any of several brightly colored butterflies
Word Origin
- admiral
- admiral: [13] Admirals originally had nothing specifically to do with the sea. The word comes ultimately from Arabic ’amīr ‘commander’ (from which English later also acquired emir [17]). This entered into various titles followed by the particle -al- ‘of’ (’amīr-al-bahr ‘commander of the sea’, ’amīr-al-mūminīn ‘commander of the faithful’), and when it was borrowed into European languages, ’amīr-al- became misconstrued as an independent, free-standing word.Moreover, the Romans, when they adopted it, smuggled in their own Latin prefix ad-, producing admiral. When this reached English (via Old French) it still meant simply ‘commander’, and it was not until the time of Edward III that a strong naval link began to emerge. The Arabic title ’amīr-al-bahr had had considerable linguistic influence in the wake of Arabic conquests around the Mediterranean seaboard (Spanish almirante de la mar, for instance), and specific application of the term to a naval commander spread via Spain, Italy, and France to England.Thus in the 15th century England had its Admiral of the Sea or Admiral of the Navy, who was in charge of the national fleet. By 1500 the maritime connection was firmly established, and admiral came to be used on its own for ‘supreme naval commander’.=> emir
- admiral (n.)
- c. 1200, "Saracen commander or chieftain," from Old French amirail (12c.) "Saracen military commander; any military commander," ultimately from medieval Arabic amir "military commander," probably via Medieval Latin use of the word for "Muslim military leader." Meaning "highest-ranking naval officer" in English is from early 15c. The extension of the word's meaning from "commander on land" to "commander at sea" likely began in 12c. Sicily with Medieval Latin amiratus and then spread to the continent, but the word also continued to mean "Muslim military commander" in Europe in the Middle Ages. The intrusive -d- probably is from influence of Latin ad-mirabilis (see admire). Italian form almiraglio, Spanish almirante are from confusion with Arabic words in al-. As a type of butterfly, from 1720, possibly a corruption of admirable.
Antonym
Example
- 1. Do you know where the admiral hotel is ?
- 2. Admiral willard said the us viewed china 's growing influence in asia as positive .
- 3. I first heard the admiral 's name spoken by a corrupt police inspector in 1982 .
- 4. The retired admiral thinks chinese forces suffer from a lack of trust , which could slow them up in battle .
- 5. Admiral timothy keating of the united states pacific command said it could encourage renewed dialogue between the american and chinese armies .