admiral

[ad-mer-uhl]

noun

1. the commander in chief of a fleet.

2. a naval officer of the highest rank.

3. a naval officer of a high rank: the grades in the U.S. Navy are fleet admiral, admiral, vice-admiral, and rear admiral.

4. Obsolete.,  the flagship of an admiral.

5. British.,  a master who directs a fishing fleet.

6. any of several often brightly colored butterflies of the family Nymphalidae, as Vanessa atalanta red admiral.

admiral

/ ˈædmərəl /

noun

1. the supreme commander of a fleet or navy

2. Also called: admiral of the fleet.  fleet admiral. a naval officer of the highest rank, equivalent to general of the army or field marshal

3. a senior naval officer entitled to fly his own flag See also rear admiral vice admiral

4. the master of a fishing fleet

5. any of various nymphalid butterflies, esp the red admiral or white admiral

Other Word Forms

• admiralship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of admiral¹

1175–1225; Middle English, variant of amiral < Old French < Arabic amīr al commander of the; -d- < Medieval Latin admīrābilis mundī for Arabic amīr al-mu'minīn commander of the faithful; or with replacement of a- ⁵ by ad-, as in administer

Word History and Origins

Origin of admiral¹

C13: amyral, from Old French amiral emir, and from Medieval Latin admīrālis (the spelling with d probably influenced by admīrābilis admirable); both from Arabic amīr emir, commander, esp in the phrase amīr-al commander of, as in amīr-al-bahr commander of the sea

Example Sentences

Navy admiral overseeing the buildup of military assets in the Caribbean is stepping down early.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The US admiral responsible for overseeing controversial strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean said Thursday he will retire just a year into his tenure.

Read more on Barron's

These commenters were denounced at the time by New Zealand's defence minister as "armchair admirals".

Read more on BBC

In response, Sheinbaum defended the admiral and said he helped denounce the thievery.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“I call it the N-word,” the American head of state said in remarks to the nation’s admirals and generals, speaking about a decision to deploy nuclear-powered submarines off the coast of Russia.

Read more on Salon

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