admiral

The story

1. Arabicأَمِير (ʔamīr)
2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
4. Latinadmīrorinflu.
5. Medieval Latinadmirālis
6. Old Frenchadmiral
7. Middle Englishadmiral
8. English todayadmiral

From Middle English admiral etc., from Anglo-Norman and Old French admiral etc., from Medieval Latin admiralis, admirallus, and admiralius, from irregular modification of amiralis etc. under the influence of the prefix ad- and particularly admiror (“to admire, respect”), from Arabic أَمِير (ʔamīr, “commander”) + -alis (“-al”). The ending is frequently but mistakenly folk etymologized to derive from the article ال (al-), particularly in Arabic أَمِير اَلبَحْر (ʔamīr al-baḥr, “commander of the sea”), first attested as a Fatimid office, or in Arabic أَمِير الْمُؤْمِنِين (ʔamīr al-muʔminīn, “Commander of the Believers, caliph”). It seems instead to have been borrowed from modification of only the first term in Arabic أَمِير الْأُمَرَاء (ʔamīr al-ʔumarāʔ, “emir of emirs, commander-in-chief”) as used as a title for important commanders in Norman Sicily in the mid-12th century. First attested as an English rank in reference to Gervase Alard of Winchelsea as "admiral of the fleet of the Cinque Ports". Doublet of emir, amir, Amir, and amira.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• 1429 The commander of a naval squadron or fleet, regardless of formal rank.
• 1440 The appointed commander of a navy, regardless of formal title.
• 1589 The commander of a fishing or merchant fleet, particularly (historical, Canada) a captain granted special privileges in exchange for bringing the first ship of a given fishing season to certain harbors in Newfoundland.
• 1799 Any of several species of nymphalid butterflies of the genera Kaniska, Limenitis and Vanessa.
• 1752 The shell of the Conus ammiralis; the cone shells of various other species displaying similarly intricate banding.
• 1557 Synonym of flagship: an admiral's ship in a fleet, the command or largest ship in a naval or commercial fleet.
• c. 1275 Synonym of emir, a Muslim commander or prince.
• 1693 Any of several varieties of pear, the trees which produce them.