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
Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 4 May 2026
The result, according to an Israeli colonel interviewed in a February 2023 Israeli military article about AI in combat, is a system that could find targets quickly.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2026
The tanker had departed from the port of Berbera and was heading to the Somali capital of Mogadishu when it was intercepted, a colonel with the Puntland Maritime Police Force told The Associated Press.
—ABC News, 25 Apr. 2026
In addition to Pascal, the cast includes Sigourney Weaver as Ward, a veteran pilot, colonel, and leader of the New Republic’s Adelphi Rangers.
—ArsTechnica, 16 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for colonel
Cite this Entry
“Colonel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colonel. Accessed 5 May. 2026.
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
