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
Samuel C. Mahaney, The Conversation, 21 Mar. 2025
That position, which is traditionally held by a 4-star general or admiral, is in command over NATO's military operations.
—Hans Nichols, Axios, 19 Mar. 2025
One clip documented the anodyne swearing-in ceremony of Dr. Rachel Levine, an admiral and a transgender woman, as an Assistant Health Secretary in the previous Administration.
—Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2025
In addition to Brown, the administration fired other senior officials, including the Navy's top admiral, Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti.
—Isabel Danzis, ABC News, 23 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Admiral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/admiral. Accessed 4 Apr. 2025.
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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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