admiral

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a senior naval officer, typically of the highest ranks and often commanding a fleet

   The admiral ordered the fleet to remain outside the harbor until dawn.

2. 2
   noun

   any of several large, brightly marked butterflies, especially the red admiral

   A red admiral settled on the sun-warmed wall.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Admiral ultimately comes from Arabic amir, “commander.” In titles such as amir-al-bahr, “commander of the sea,” Christian scholars mistook amir-al for a single word meaning “commander,” which led to the English form admiral. The maritime use arose from the office of “Amir of the Sea,” created by the Arabs in Spain and Sicily and later adopted by the Genoese, the French, and the English under Edward III. From the 15th century, admiral on its own has been used as a naval term.

From Middle English and Old French admiral, ultimately from Arabic amir, 'commander.' Medieval Latin and French reshaped the word, and its spelling was influenced by Latin admirari, 'to admire'; the familiar ending is not originally the Arabic article al-.

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary