commodore

C3O1M3M3O1D2O1R1E1
US/ˈkɑ.mə.dɔɹ/UK/ˈkɒm.ə.dɔː/

noun

A naval officer holding a rank between captain and rear admiral.

Similar
CDRECOMOCmdreCmdre.senior captainfleet captainflag captainshipmaster senior grade
OriginDutch kommandeur ← French commandeur ← Middle French commandeur →
Less commonScrabble 16
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

commodore1

nouncommodore (plural commodores)

plural commodores

  1. governmentA naval officer holding a rank between captain and rear admiral.

    Synonyms: CDRE, COMO, Cmdre, Cmdre.

  2. nauticalA (temporary) commander over a collection of ships who is not an admiral.
  3. nauticalThe leading ship in a fleet of merchantmen.
  4. nauticalThe president of a yacht club.
  5. nauticalA yacht-club president's vessel in a regatta.
  6. abbreviationellipsisgovernmentEllipsis of commodore admiral.
  7. USgovernmentA rear admiral (lower half).
  8. biologyAny of various nymphalid butterflies of the Asian genus Parasarpa.

Commodore2

proper nounCommodore (plural Commodores)

plural Commodores

  1. A surname.
  2. rareA male given name.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA naval officer holding a rank between captain and rear admiral.

Similar
CDRECOMOCmdreCmdre.

non-flag naval rank

Similar
senior captainfleet captainflag captain
Similar
shipmaster senior grade
Also see
commodore admiralfleet captainrear admiral (lower half)senior captain

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Italic*kom
  4. Proto-Italic*kom-
  5. Latincon-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*(s)meh₂-
  7. Proto-Italic*manus
  8. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*dʰéh₁t
  10. Proto-Italic*manuðō
  11. Latinmandō
  12. Latincommendō
  13. Latinmandōinflu.
  14. Latincommandāre
  15. Old Frenchcomander
  16. Old Frenchcomandeor
  17. Middle Frenchcommandeur
  18. Frenchcommandeur
  19. Dutchkommandeur
  20. Englishcommodore

Borrowed from Dutch kommandeur, from Middle French commandeur. See command, compare commend (a doublet), and mandate.

More words from Dutch, Middle French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans kommodoor
  • kommodoora naval officer
Catalan comodor
  • comodora naval officer
Czech komodor
  • komodora naval officer
Estonian kommodoor
  • kommodoora naval officer
Finnish lippueamiraali, kommodori
  • lippueamiraalia naval officer
  • kommodoria commander over a collection of ships who is not an admiral
  • kommodoripresident of a yacht club
French commodore
  • commodorea naval officer
German Kommodore, Flottillenadmiral
  • Kommodorea naval officer
  • Flottillenadmirala naval officer
  • Kommodorea commander over a collection of ships who is not an admiral
  • Flottekapitäna commander over a collection of ships who is not an admiral
Greek αρχιπλοίαρχος
  • αρχιπλοίαρχος (archiploíarchos)a naval officer
Hebrew קוֹמוֹדוֹר, קברניט
  • קוֹמוֹדוֹר (komodor)a naval officer
  • קברניט (kabarnit)a naval officer
  • מש״ט (mashat)a commander over a collection of ships who is not an admiral
Italian commodoro, commodoro
  • commodoroa naval officer
  • commodoroa commander over a collection of ships who is not an admiral
  • commodoropresident of a yacht club
Japanese 代将
  • 代将 (daishō)a naval officer
Malay komodor
  • komodora naval officer
Portuguese comodoro, comodoro
  • comodoroa naval officer
  • comodoroa commander over a collection of ships who is not an admiral
  • comodoropresident of a yacht club
Romanian comodor, comodor
  • comodora naval officer
  • comodora commander over a collection of ships who is not an admiral
Russian коммодо́р
  • коммодо́р (kommodór)a naval officer
Spanish comodoro
  • comodoroa naval officer
Swedish kommendör
  • kommendöra naval officer
Turkish tuğamiral
  • tuğamirala naval officer
Cite this entry
APA

commodore. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commodore

MLA

“commodore.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commodore. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “commodore,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commodore.

Source: commodore on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.