Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A commissioned rank in the U.S. Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps that is above lieutenant colonel and below brigadier general.
- n. One who holds this rank or a similar rank in another military organization.
- n. An honorary nonmilitary title awarded by some states of the United States.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The chief commander of a regiment of troops, whether infantry or cavalry, next in rank below that of a general officer—in the United States army, of a brigadier-general. In the British army, except in the artillery and engineers, the office of colonel is often honorary, and is generally conferred on distinguished officers and princes of the blood royal, the real command resting with the lieutenant-colonel in each battalion, who after five years of service becomes a colonel. Generals who have had what is called “a regiment given to them” as a reward for service, and virtually as a retirement, have the rank of colonel. In the Russian, German, and Austrian armies the colonel of each regiment, holding the title only as an honor, is usually a member of some princely or other eminent family, often foreign, and sometimes appointed in childhood. Often, as a title, abbreviated Col.
- To act as colonel; play the colonel.
- n. In angling, the name of an artificial salmon-fly
Wiktionary
- n. A commissioned officer in the army, air force, or marine corps. In U.S. military, it ranks above a lieutenant colonel and below a brigadier general.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The chief officer of a regiment; an officer ranking next above a lieutenant colonel and next below a brigadier general.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a commissioned military officer in the United States Army or Air Force or Marines who ranks above a lieutenant colonel and below a brigadier general
Etymologies
- Alteration of obsolete coronel, from French, from Old Italian colonello, from diminutive of colonna, column of soldiers, from Latin columna, column; see kel-2 in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“William Jackson was reportedly a professor at the University of Georgia; the nature of his military service and the source of the title colonel is unknown.”
“I'm guessing the colonel is a fan of Sergio Leone films.”
“A retired French army colonel is aiming to take a stratospheric leap into the record books by completing a 1000mph (1,600km/h) skydive from the edge of space in Canada next month.”
“Ive come from Gritskys (that was what they called the colonel); theyre expecting you.”
“I've come from Gritsky's" (that was what they called the colonel); "they're expecting you.”
“Earlier, a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Air Force had marched, ramrod-erect, onto the loose dirt of the bullring and asked 23 saluting recruits to solemnly raise their right hands, so as to be sworn into the force.”
“Drawing on my own 28 years of military experience, the colonel is correct:”
“One day I sat cross-legged on the thin carpet of a two-room shack in a poor suburb, listening to a former colonel from the South Vietnamese army recount why he beat his eight-year-old son.”
“He was a brave soldier of no particular distinction in battles against the Indians, though he acquired the title of colonel, not uncommon in the South, by being elected commander of a local militia.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘colonel’.
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Eesily missspellable words
absence, abundance, accessible, accidentally, acclaim, accommodate, accomplish, accordion, accumulate, achievement, acquaintance, across and 420 more...
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The Penis Game
Euphemisms for the penis.
See also:
A Testicle by Any Other Name
Ward, I'm worried about the beavermale interfemoral..., penis, dick, cock, prick, willy, percy, peter, one-eyed trouser ..., piece of pork, wife's best friend, dong and 79 more...
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•Unexpected Pronunciation, Now! with Public Acc...
Inspired to publicity by the conversation at segway. Thanks, pals!
boatswain, clapboard, waistcoat, victuals, forecastle, solder, colonel, ensign, worcestershire sauce, creatinine, coelacanth, banal and 77 more...
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Words with unusual spellings or pronunciations
Herein are listed words with oddball spellings and words whose pronunciation does not reflect the spelling.
eleemosynary, Wednesday, colonel, posslq, zaqqum, qwerty, cinquefoil, qibla(h), minuscule, Cholmondeley, polyphloisboian, ptisan and 67 more...
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right but wrong
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Mr. Pronunciation's Bad Day
Mr. Pronunciation is an upstanding and reliable sort of dude. He's like the Clark Kent of the pronunciation world. Sometimes, though, he botches up a pronunciation and, you know, he's in a hurry an...
colonel, treacle, cruel, laissez faire, poo, stupid, sashay, concrete, birthmark, chic, draught, gaur and 11 more...
uselessness It sounds like the American Heritage pronouncer is starting the word with a "p." Dec 10, 2009
PossibleUnderscore According to Wikipedia: The term colonel derives from Latin columnella 'small column'. However, it was never actually a Roman rank. The system of ranks in the Roman military was quite different. As a rank the term arose in the late sixteenth century Italy where it referred to the officer in charge of a column (Italian colonna, plural colonne) or field force. The term is first attested as colonnello, but it is perhaps a truncation of something like capitano colonnello 'captain of the column, the captain designated to command the column'. In this context colonna seems to refer to a force marching in column, rather than to a battle formation — a battle or battlation of pike. Jul 26, 2009