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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
Oriana Skylar Mastro, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
Marine colonel to speak at veterans center The Veterans Association of North County hosts a Memorial Day ceremony from 10 a.m. to noon May 26 in the VANC resource center, 1617 Mission Ave.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 May 2025
While Prince William, 42, will ride on horseback in his role as honorary colonel of the Welsh Guards, Kate will ride in a carriage alongside their children.
—Simon Perry, People.com, 10 June 2025
Former Defense Minister General Jose Guillermo Garcia was sentenced by a jury in the northern town of Chalatenango, alongside two colonels: former Treasury Police chief Francisco Moran and former infantry brigade commander Mario Reyes.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 4 June 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 4 Jul. 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
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