COLONEL Definition & Meaning

colonel

[ kur-nl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

an officer in the U.S. Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps ranking between lieutenant colonel and brigadier general: corresponding to a captain in the U.S. Navy.
a commissioned officer of similar rank in the armed forces of some other nations.
an honorary title bestowed by some Southern states, as to those who have brought honor to the state, prominent businesspersons, visiting celebrities, or the like:
When the vice president visited the state he was made a Kentucky colonel.
Older Use. (in the South) a title of respect prefixed to the name of distinguished elderly men.

colonel

/ ˈ��ɜː��ə�� /

noun

an officer of land or air forces junior to a brigadier but senior to a lieutenant colonel

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Pronunciation Note

Colonel [kur, -nl], with its medial l pronounced as [r], illustrates one source for the apparent vagaries of English spelling: divergence between a word's orthographic development and its established pronunciation. In this case, English borrowed from French two variant forms of the same word, one pronounced with medial and final [l], and a second reflecting dissimilation of the first [l] to [r]. After a period of competition, the dissimilated form triumphed in pronunciation, while the spelling colonel became the orthographic standard.

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Derived Forms

ˈ��Ǳ��ǲԱ��, noun

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Other �y��vlog Forms

��Ǳ��n��·�� noun

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of colonel¹

1540–50; < Middle French < Italian colon(n)ello, equivalent to colonn(a) column + -ello < Latin -ellus diminutive suffix; so named because such an officer originally headed the first column or company of a regiment

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of colonel¹

C16: via Old French, from Old Italian colonnello column of soldiers, from colonna column

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The princess, who has been colonel of the regiment since 2023, missed the celebrations last year after being diagnosed with cancer.

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As the last rays of the sun disappeared, Borys, a spry and upright retired colonel of 70 who served 30 years in the Soviet army stopped on his way to his car.

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Officials believe that the crash could have been caused by speeding, with the driver "unable" to control the bus, police colonel Victor Benavides told the AFP news agency.

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Making matters worse, he says his family is also in danger because his father was a colonel with the Afghan army and assisted the CIA.

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All are said to have been given high-ranking positions as colonels or brigadier-generals.

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