admiral

noun ad·mi·ral \ ˈad-m(ə-)rəl \

Updated on: 26 Apr 2018

Definition of admiral

1 archaic : the commander in chief of a navy

2 a : flag officer

b : a commissioned officer in the navy or coast guard who ranks above a vice admiral and whose insignia is four stars — compare general

3 archaic : flagship

4 : any of several brightly colored nymphalid butterflies — compare red admiral

See admiral defined for English-language learners

See admiral defined for kids

Recent Examples of admiral from the Web

Underscoring its importance in the fight against opioid addiction, the Commissioned Corps is overseen by HHS' assistant secretary for health, Brett Giroir, a four-star admiral and physician who is HHS' point person on the epidemic.

— jayne o'donnell, USA TODAY, "'Thank you for your service:' Surgeon General's uniformed corps battles opioid epidemic," 18 Apr. 2018
The admiral's tour was scheduled for April 18 - just five days away.

— CBS News, "WWII research team marks death of Pearl Harbor mastermind," 16 Apr. 2018
After separate investigations, the Justice Department declined to press charges, and the Navy cleared the four-star admiral of wrongdoing.

— craig whitlock, chicagotribune.com, "'Fat Leonard' and his prostitutes affected Pentagon's pick to lead Joint Chiefs," 1 Apr. 2018
Smith’s name was scrubbed from a selection list for admiral, although prosecutors said Monday his delayed promotion now has been forwarded to the White House for approval.

— carl prine, sandiegouniontribune.com, "War crimes court-martial starts for SEALs; Navy's top attorney accused of unlawful command influence," 9 Apr. 2018
After all, McCain had denied the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory by turning down an early release, offered because his father was an admiral.

— azcentral, "John McCain's 2000 presidential run saw challenges, 'ugly' politics," 2 Apr. 2018
Some photos were from a banquet in Singapore that Francis had hosted for the admiral and other Navy officers that featured prostitutes as entertainment, according to the documents and people familiar with the case.

— craig whitlock, chicagotribune.com, "'Fat Leonard' and his prostitutes affected Pentagon's pick to lead Joint Chiefs," 1 Apr. 2018
The University of Texas System is seeking to fill the post soon, as current Chancellor William McRaven, a former Navy SEAL and four-star admiral, announced his intention to step down in May for health reasons.

— felicia schwartz, WSJ, "University of Texas Courts Rex Tillerson to Be Next Chancellor," 23 Mar. 2018
The mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer program in 1842; the navy admiral and mathematician Grace Hopper helped create the Cobol programming language.

— jennifer szalai, New York Times, "In ‘Brotopia,’ Silicon Valley Disrupts Everything but the Boys’ Club," 7 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'admiral.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

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.

Origin and Etymology of admiral

Middle English admirail, admiral, amiral "emir, Saracen chieftain, naval commander," borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Medieval Latin admiralis, admirallus, amiralius, borrowed from Arabic amīr-al- "commander of the," in such phrases as amīr-al-baḥr "commander of the sea" (initial adm- for am- probably by association with Latin admīrārī "to admire")

Note: From the 9th century, the Arabic word amīr, "commander," appears in Medieval Latin documents with a variety of suffixal formations, as amiratus, admirandus, and admirallus; the ending -allus in the latter form has usually been construed as the Arabic definite article al, which belongs to the following word in collocations such as amīr al-'alī, "supreme commander." The more specific application of admirallus to the commander of a fleet originated in 12th-century Norman-ruled Sicily.

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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ADMIRAL Defined for English Language Learners

admiral

noun

Definition of admiral for English Language Learners

: a high-ranking officer in the navy

ADMIRAL Defined for Kids

admiral

noun ad·mi·ral \ ˈad-mə-rəl , -mrəl \

Definition of admiral for Students

: a commissioned officer in the navy or coast guard ranking above a vice admiral

History for admiral

The word admiral looks a lot like the word admire. The two words, though, are not related. Admire came from a Latin verb that meant “to marvel at.” Admiral came from an Arabic title that meant “commander.” It may have been part of a phrase that meant “commander of the sea.”