US /kəˈmændɚ/ UK /kəˈmɑːndə/
noun Freq #1382

Meanings

  1. 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. 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

Etymology

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

View etymology graph ->

Topics

markdown

Send feedback

Optional — only if you'd like a reply.