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"colonel" in seven languages

Meaningcolonel

Spanish

coronel

/koɾoˈnel/

masc.borrowed · Italian colonnello

Spanish swapped the first l for r.

French

colonel

/kɔlɔnɛl/

masc.borrowed · Italian colonnello

Italian

colonnello

/kolonˈnɛllo/

masc.inherited

From colonna 'column': the commander of a column of troops.

Portuguese

coronel

/koɾoˈnɛw/

masc.borrowed · Italian colonnello, probably via Spanish coronel

Romanian

colonel

/koloˈnel/

masc.borrowed · French colonel

Catalan

coronel

/kuɾuˈnɛl/

masc.borrowed · Italian colonnello, probably via Spanish coronel

English

colonel

/ˈkɝnəl/

from Latin/French · French colonel, earlier coronel, from Italian

Spelled with the French l, said with the r of the older form coronel.

English → ItaliancolonelcolonnelloCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The ancestor

Italian colonnello (from COLUMNAM 'column')‘commander of a column’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

An Italian military word that spread to the other languages. English pronounces it 'kernel' because it kept the sound of the old r-form coronel (still Spanish today) while adopting the French spelling.

English relatives: column, colonnade

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In a sentence

  • esEl coronel dio la orden.
  • frLe colonel a donné l'ordre.
  • itIl colonnello ha dato l'ordine.
  • ptO coronel deu a ordem.
  • roColonelul a dat ordinul.
  • caEl coronel va donar l'ordre.
  • enThe colonel gave the order.

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