colonel

noun

col·​o·​nel ˈkər-nᵊl 

1

a

: a commissioned officer in the army, air force, or marine corps ranking above a lieutenant colonel and below a brigadier general

b

: lieutenant colonel

2

: a minor titular official of a state especially in southern or midland U.S.

—used as an honorific title

colonelcy

ˈkər-nᵊl-sē 

noun

Did you know?

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

He retired as a colonel in the air force.

Recent Examples on the Web

Waltz lends a slimy charisma to the merciless SS colonel, who gets a satisfying comeuppance via carving knife. —Brian Truitt, USA Today, 4 Mar. 2026

Buckhout, a retired Army colonel, was up four percentage points against her closest primary challenger Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck in an early February poll from Emerson College, though her lead was within the margin of error. —Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026

Fincke is a retired US Air Force colonel and was selected to be an astronaut back in 1996. —Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 26 Feb. 2026

In June 1940, a 49-year-old colonel who had led the French army’s 4th Armored Division in counterattacks against the Germans at Abbeville retreated to London after France surrendered. —Timothy W. Ryback, The Atlantic, 19 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

alteration of coronel, from Middle French, modification of Old Italian colonnello column of soldiers, colonel, diminutive of colonna column, from Latin columna — see column

First Known Use

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing colonel

• bird colonel
• chicken colonel
• lieutenant colonel

Rhymes for colonel

• diurnal
• eternal
• external
• fraternal
• infernal
• internal
• maternal
• nocturnal
• paternal
• pimpernel
• journal
• kernel

Kids Definition

colonel

noun

col·​o·​nel ˈkərn-ᵊl 

: a military commissioned officer ranking just below a brigadier general

colonelcy

-sē 

noun

Etymology

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