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

Among the deceased were colonels, lieutenants, majors and captains and some reserve soldiers, ranging in age from 26 to 60, The Associated Press reported. —Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 7 Jan. 2026

Most of the high-ranking Cuban officers killed in the raid, including two colonels – Humberto Alfonso Roca Sánchez, 67, and Lázaro Evangelio Rodríguez Rodríguez, 62– were members of the Interior Ministry, which runs Cuba’s spy agencies and has a department in charge of personal protection services. —Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 7 Jan. 2026

The seemingly unstoppable colonel manages to survive the car crash. —Christopher Rudolph, PEOPLE, 20 Dec. 2025

In the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force, that includes people with the officer rank of colonel or below. —Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 18 Dec. 2025

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