admiral
noun
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It is a curiosity of history that the word admiral has its source in Arabic, the language of a desert people who acquired their seafaring skills after the great expansion of Islam in the seventh century. As the name for a Muslim chieftain, the Arabic word amir appears as a loanword in medieval Latin documents in spellings such as amiratus, admirandus, and admirallus. These words display a variety of suffixes and an added d, through confusion with the Latin verb admirari, “to admire.” The ending -allus is probably from the Arabic article al, which actually belongs to the following word in phrases such as amir al-‘ali, “supreme commander.” The application of admirallus to a commander of a fleet originated in 12th-century Sicily, was adopted by the Genoese, and then spread to countries throughout western Europe, including France and England.
Examples of admiral in a Sentence
Sophia Cai, Axios, 9 Sep. 2024
The same concern for the rule of law led 489 retired generals, admirals, and security officials—nonpoliticians all—to warn the public about the dangers of reelecting Trump and brought government officials to testify to his wrongdoing at considerable personal risk.
—Jonathan Schlefer, Foreign Affairs, 15 Mar. 2021
The silo mostly had workers and soldiers, but the admiral said that many people on Snowpiercer died during the retrofitting.
—Rafael Motamayor, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2024
To the horror of the admirals, in 1920 Mitchell told Congress that the Air Service could sink any existing or future battleship.
—David Hambling, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Admiral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/admiral. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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admiral
noun
Middle English admiral "naval commander," from early French amiral "commander" and Latin admirallus "naval commander," from Arabic amīr-al- "commander of the" (as in amīr al-'alī "supreme commander")
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