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English colonel is pronounced the same as kernel. This seems odd, but there is an explanation. In many languages when a word contains two identical or similar sounds, one of these sounds will often change over a period of time. This kind of change is called dissimilation. So when the Italian word colonello was taken into French, it became coronel; and the word was borrowed by the English from the French in this form. Later the spelling colonel came to be used in order to reflect the Italian origin of the word. But by then the pronunciation with r was well established.
Examples of colonel in a Sentence
Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 28 Feb. 2025
The Cuban Missile Crisis has just come to its nail-biting conclusion, and a U.S. Air Force colonel attempts to calm his nerves with a drink at home.
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 25 Feb. 2025
The secret chicken recipe, including its famous 11 herbs and spices, was established in 1939, and the colonel began wearing his trademark white suit in 1950.
—Victor Mather, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2025
That building is inside a special security zone for wartime detention operations, whose access is controlled by an Army colonel who answers to the U.S. Southern Command.
—Carol Rosenberg, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colonel
Cite this Entry
“Colonel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colonel. Accessed 16 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
an altered form of earlier coronel "colonel," from early French coronel (same meaning), from early Italian colonnello "colonel, column of soldiers," derived from Latin columna "column" — related to column
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