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

In February, he fired Air Force General C Q Brown, who was dismissed along with five other admirals and generals.

From BBC

For the film, the director asked him to dress up as an admiral.

From BBC

The vice admiral's team schedules a routine call to Russia's Northern Fleet every Wednesday afternoon -to keep communication channels open, they say.

From BBC

The admiral's visit coincided with the escalation of an intense trade war between China and the US after President Trump's announcement of higher tariffs.

From BBC

The pair shared a highly emotional scene as Kilmer's character, now an admiral, typed out part of his side of the conversation on a screen, before sharing a hug.

From BBC

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