commander

B2 Topic:People & Society

US /kəˈmændɚ/ UK /kəˈmɑːndə/ See IPA manual

Freq #1382

Meanings

1

noun
A person who is in charge of a group of soldiers or a military unit.

The commander gave the order to advance at dawn.
2

noun
A navy officer who ranks above a lieutenant commander and below a captain.

She was promoted to commander after years at sea.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who is in charge... commandantcommanding officer

Word family

Forms commanders

Derived forms arch-commanderarchcommanderco-commandercommander-in-chiefcommanderesscommanderlesscommanderlikecommanderlycommandershipcommandresssubcommanderundercommander

Related forms commandery

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

wing commander
an officer holding an air-force rank immediately below group captain

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Middle English comaundour, commaunder, comaunder, borrowed from Old French comandeor, cumandeur, from comander. By surface analysis, command + -er. See command.

comaundour Middle English comandeor Old French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# commander

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /kəˈmændɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /kəˈmɑːndə/
**Frequency rank:** 1382

## Meanings
1. A person who is in charge of a group of soldiers or a military unit.
2. A navy officer who ranks above a lieutenant commander and below a captain.

## Examples
- The commander gave the order to advance at dawn.
- She was promoted to commander after years at sea.

## Derived Forms
- arch-commander
- archcommander
- co-commander
- commander-in-chief
- commanderess
- commanderless
- commanderlike
- commanderly
- commandership
- commandress
- subcommander
- undercommander

## Related Forms
- commandery

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: comaundour
- Root: comandeor

## Etymology
From Middle English comaundour, commaunder, comaunder, borrowed from Old French comandeor, cumandeur, from comander. By surface analysis, command + -er. See command.

## AI Etymology
commander is a noun. It is from Middle English comaundour, commaunder, comaunder, borrowed from Old French comandeor, cumandeur, from comander. By surface analysis, command + -er. See command. Historical forms in the chain include comaundour (Middle English) and comandeor (Old French). Current senses include a person who is in charge of a group of soldiers or a military unit and a navy officer who ranks above a lieutenant commander and below a captain. Derived forms include arch-commander, archcommander, co-commander, commander-in-chief, and commanderess. Related words include commandery.

## Topics
- People & Society

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