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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
Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2024
Things continued as if nothing had changed — the same morning, afternoon and evening formations, the same unit-commander meetings at headquarters with the colonel, the same photo-report minutiae paperwork BS routine.
—Sarah A. Topol, New York Times, 20 Sep. 2024
Among those kidnapped were William Higgins, a U.S. Marine colonel working for a United Nations peacekeeping force, and William Buckley, the C.I.A. station chief; both were tortured and killed.
—Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024
Ordered to series in May, Going Dutch follows an arrogant, loudmouth U.S. Army colonel (played by Leary) who, after an epically unfiltered rant, is reassigned to the Netherlands, where he is punished with a command position at the least important army base in the world.
—Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 5 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for colonel 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'colonel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near colonel
Cite this Entry
“Colonel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colonel. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.
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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