See Also: colonel(dictionary)
colonel(dictionary)
COLONEL(law)
Colonel Bogey(dictionary)
Colonel Sanders(dictionary)
Gaddafi, Colonel Moamar al(dictionary)

colonel (iou)



colonel noun. Also coronel, (esp. in titles) Colonel. M16.
[French coronel, later colonnel (now colonel), from Italian colonnello, from colonna COLUMN.]
1. The highest-ranking officer of a regiment; an officer ranking next above a lieutenant colonel and next below a brigadier in military rank. Also (esp. in the southern US) used as a courtesy title to minor government officials and to former military men. M16.
Colonel Blimp: see BLIMP 3. colonel-general an officer in charge of all the regiments of an (esp. foreign) army: freq. an honorary rank. Colonel-in-Chief: an honorary rank. LIEUTENANT colonel.
2. Hist. A holder of any of various military ranks in ancient armies. M16.
? The form coronel prevailed in writing until M17 and is also the source of the mod. pronunc. The 1773 edition of Johnson's Dictionary records only .
colonelcy noun the post, rank, or commission of a colonel L18.
colonelling noun playing the colonel; trying to raise a regiment: M17.
colonelship noun = colonelcy L16.