admiral

Meaning

1. (informal) The commander of a naval squadron or fleet, regardless of formal rank.
2. The appointed commander of a navy, regardless of formal title.
3. A high rank in the British and American Navies, NATO grade OF-9, equivalent ranks in other navies, in coast guards, etc.
4. The commander of a fishing or merchant fleet, particularly (historical, Canada) a captain granted special privileges in exchange for bringing the first ship of a given fishing season to certain harbors in Newfoundland.
5. Any of several species of nymphalid butterflies of the genera Kaniska, Limenitis and Vanessa.
6. The shell of the Conus ammiralis; the cone shells of various other species displaying similarly intricate banding.
7. (historical) Synonym of flagship: an admiral's ship in a fleet, the command or largest ship in a naval or commercial fleet.
8. (historical, uncommon) Synonym of emir, a Muslim commander or prince.
9. (obsolete) Any of several varieties of pear, the trees which produce them.

Synonyms

general

red admiral

naval commander

full admiral

flagship

vice

flag-officer

rear

commodore

general of the army

marshal

boss

Translations

amiral

Admiral

almirante

ammiraglio

almirante

admiraal

almirall

ναύαρχος

amiral

vlootvoogd

أمير بحر

vulcain

Eisvogel

oramiral

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈædməɹəl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: admiral

Cognate with Arabic: أَمِير اَلبَحْر

Cognate with Arabic: أَمِير الْمُؤْمِنِين

In summary

From Middle English admiral etc., from Anglo-Norman and Old French admiral etc., from Medieval Latin admiralis, admirallus, and admiralius, from irregular modification of amiralis etc. under the influence of the prefix ad- and particularly admiror (“to admire, respect”), from Arabic أَمِير (ʔamīr, “commander”) + -alis (“-al”). The ending is frequently but mistakenly folk etymologized to derive from the article ال (al-), particularly in Arabic أَمِير اَلبَحْر (ʔamīr al-baḥr, “commander of the sea”), first attested as a Fatimid office, or in Arabic أَمِير الْمُؤْمِنِين (ʔamīr al-muʔminīn, “Commander of the Believers, caliph”). It seems instead to have been borrowed from modification of only the first term in Arabic أَمِير الْأُمَرَاء (ʔamīr al-ʔumarāʔ, “emir of emirs, commander-in-chief”) as used as a title for important commanders in Norman Sicily in the mid-12th century. First attested as an English rank in reference to Gervase Alard of Winchelsea as "admiral of the fleet of the Cinque Ports". Doublet of emir, amir, Amir, and amira.
Etymology tree
Middle English admiral
English admiral