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
Matt Donnelly, Variety, 25 Sep. 2025
The film focuses on the power grabbing tête-à-tête between both Sarah and Abigail, with the latter even marrying a colonel in order to regain her nobility.
—Mathew Rodriguez, Them., 23 Sep. 2025
While seated across from Weaver's character Ward, a colonel and leader of the New Republic's Adelphi Rangers, Grogu attempts to use his telekinesis to bring a bowl of food toward himself.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 22 Sep. 2025
Baby Yoda gets the most screen time in the footage, and nearly every character is either wearing a mask or a creature or a robot — the only clear human face shown is Sigourney Weaver as a Rebel Alliance colonel.
—James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 22 Sep. 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 2 Oct. 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
Share