Admiral Alexander Milne (1808-1896), by Walter William Ouless.jpg

Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, or fleet admiral.

Etymology

The word in Middle English comes from Anglo-French , "commander", from Medieval Latin , . These evolved from the Arabic () – (), “king, prince, chief, leader, nobleman, lord, a governor, commander, or person who rules over a number of people,” and (), the Arabic article answering to “the.” In Arabic, admiral is also represented as (), where () means the sea.

The 1818 edition of Samuel Johnson's '' A Dictionary of the English Language'', edited and revised by the Rev. Henry John Todd, states that the term “has been traced to the Arab. emir or amir, lord or commander, and the Gr. , the sea, q. d. ''prince of the sea''. The word is written both with and without the d, in other languages, as well as our own. Barb. Lat. admirallus and amiralius. V. Ducange. Barb. Græc. ἄμηρχλιος. V. Meursii Gloss. Græco-Barbarum, edit. 1610. p. 29. Fr. admiral and amiral. Dan. the same. Germ. ammiral. Dutch, admirael or ammirael. Ital. ammiraglio. Sp. almirante. Minsheu, in his Spanish Dictionary, says ‘almiralle is a king in the Arabian language.’ Amrayl is used by Robert of Gloucester, in the sense of a prince, or governour.”

The quote from John Minsheu’s Dictionarie in Spanish and English (1599), given in Johnson’s Dictionary, has been confirmed as being accurate. Additionally, the definition of Amīr (أمير), as given in Edward William Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon, concurs, in part, with Minsheu's definition, stating that the term means “One having, holding, or possessing, command; a commander; a governor; a lord; a prince, or king.”

While other Greek words of the period existed to indicate “belonging to the sea,” or “of the sea,” the now obsolete Gr. mentioned in Johnson's Dictionary is expressly defined as "of the sea, Lat. marinus, epith. of List of water deities, sea-gods, nymphs, etc."

Though there are multiple meanings for the Arabic Amīr (أمير), the literal meaning of the phrase Amīr al-Baḥr (أمير البحر) is “Prince of the Sea.” This position, versus “commander of the sea,” is demonstrated by legal practices prevailing in the Ottoman Empire, whereas it was only possible for Phanariots to qualify for attaining four princely positions, those being Dragoman of the Porte, grand dragoman, Dragoman of the Fleet, dragoman of the fleet, and the voivodees of Moldavia and Wallachia. Those Phanariots who attained the princely position of dragoman of the fleet served under the Ottoman admiral having administration of the Aegean Islands, Aegean islands and the Anatolian coast.

Modern acknowledgement of the phrase Amīr al-Baḥr (أمير البحر) meaning “Prince of the Sea” includes a speech made in an official United States Armed Forces, U.S. military ceremony conducted in an Arabic port, and a news article published by an Arabic news outlet: On 24 May 2012, in a change of command ceremony aboard aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65), USS Enterprise (CVN 65), while docked at Khalifa Bin Salman Port, Bahrain, United States Marine Corps, U.S. Marine Corps General officer, Gen. Jim Mattis, James Mattis, Commander, United States Central Command, U.S. Central Command, introduced Vice admiral, Vice Admiral Mark I. Fox as “Admiral Fox, the prince of the sea, emir of the sea – to translate ‘admiral’ from the Arabic to English;” On 04 Feb 2021, in an announcement of his Coronavirus disease 2019, coronavirus-related death, the Arabic news website Saudi 24 News referred to Admiral Edmond Chagoury by the title “Prince of the Sea.”

An alternate etymology proposes that the term admiral evolved, instead, from the title of Amir al-umara, Amīr al-Umarāʾ (أمير الأمراء‎). Under the reign of the Buyid dynasty (934 to 1062) of Iraq and Iran, the title of Amīr al-Umarāʾ, which means prince of princes, came to denote the Heir apparent, heir-apparent, or crown prince.

This alternate etymology states that the term was in use for the Christodulus, Greco-Arab naval leaders of Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture, Norman Sicily, which had formerly been ruled by Arabs, at least by the early 11th century. During this time, the Norman Roger II of Sicily (1095–1154) employed a Greek Christian, known as George of Antioch, who previously had served as a naval commander for several North African Muslim rulers. Roger styled George in Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid fashion as , or Amīr al-Umarāʾ, with the title becoming Latinized in the 13th century as .

The Sicilians and later Genoa, Genoese took the first two parts of the term and used them as one word, , from their Crown of Aragon, Aragon opponents. The France, French and Spain, Spanish gave their sea commanders similar titles while in Portugal, Portuguese the word changed to . As the word was used by people speaking Latin or Latin-based languages it gained the "d" and endured a series of different endings and spellings leading to the English spelling in the 14th century and to ''admiral'' by the 16th century.

Further history

The word "admiral" has come to be almost exclusively associated with the highest Naval officer ranks, naval rank in most of the world's navies, equivalent to the army rank of general. However, this was not always the case; for example, in some European countries prior to the end of World War II, admiral was the third highest naval rank after general admiral and grand admiral.

The rank of admiral has also been subdivided into various grades, several of which are historically extinct while others remain in use in most present-day navies. The Royal Navy used the colours red, white, and blue, in descending order to indicate Admiral (United Kingdom), seniority of its admirals until 1864; for example, Horatio Nelson's highest rank was vice-admiral of the white. The generic term for these naval equivalents of army generals is flag officer. Some navies have also used army-type titles for them, such as the Oliver Cromwell, Cromwellian "general at sea".

NATO code

While the rank of admiral is used in most of NATO countries, it is ranked differently depending on the country.

Admiral insignia by country

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg,
Albanian Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg,
Argentine Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg, Admiral
Royal Australian Navy
File:Azerbaijan-Navy-OF-8.svg,
Azerbaijani Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg, Admiral
Bangladesh Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg,

Belgian Navy
File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O11.svg,
Bolivian Naval Force
File:Generic-Navy-13.svg,
Brazilian Navy
File:Bulgaria-Navy-OF-9 sleeve.svg,

Bulgarian Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg, Admiral

Royal Canadian Navy
File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O11.svg,
Chilean Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg,
Colombian Navy
File:18.DRCN-VADM.svg,
Navy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Navy of DR of Congo
File:Rukav zimske odore admirala HRM.svg,
Croatian Navy
File:Cuba-Navy-OF-8.svg,
Cuban Revolutionary Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg,
Royal Danish Navy
File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O11.svg,
Dominican Navy
File:Ecuador-Navy-OF-9.svg,
Ecuadorian Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg,
Estonian Navy
File:Finland-Navy-OF-9.svg,
)
Finnish Navy
File:France-Navy-OF-9 Sleeve.svg,
French Navy
File:23.GN-ADM.svg,
Gabonese Navy
File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O11.svg,
German Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg, Admiral
Ghana Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg, Admiral

Indian Navy
File:Rank insignia of ammiraglio of the Italian Navy.svg,
Italian Navy
File:Ivory Coast-Navy-OF-9.svg,
Armed Forces of the Republic of Ivory Coast, Navy of Ivory Coast
File:Russia-Navy-OF-8-Sleeve.svg,

Kazakh Naval Forces
File:19. Madagascar Navy - ADM.svg,
Madagascar Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg,
Mexican Navy
File:Montenegro-Navy-OF-9.svg,
Montenegrin Navy
File:Morocco-Navy-OF-9.svg,
Royal Moroccan Navy
File:Mozambique-Navy-OF-9.svg,
Mozambique Defence Armed Forces, Mozambique Naval Command
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg, Admiral
Nigerian Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg,
Royal Norwegian Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg, Admiral
Pakistan Navy
File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O12.svg,
Paraguayan Navy
File:Peru-Navy-OF-9.svg,
Peruvian Navy
File:PN ADM BlkDr-Slv.svg, Admiral
Philippine Navy
File:Poland-Navy-OF-9.svg,
Polish Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg,
Portuguese Navy
File:Romania-Navy-OF-9-Sleeve.svg,
Romanian Naval Forces
File:Russia-Navy-OF-8-Sleeve.svg,

Russian Navy
File:18-Serbian Navy-ADM.svg,

Serbian River Flotilla
File:Generic-Navy-13.svg,
Slovenian Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg, Admiral
South African Navy
File:Spanish-Navy-OF9.svg,
Spanish Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg, Admiral
Sri Lanka Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg,
Swedish Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg,
)
Tunisia Navy
File:Russia-Navy-OF-8-1994-everyday.svg,
Turkmen Naval Forces
File:Ukraine-Navy-OF-9.svg,

Ukrainian Navy
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg, Admiral
Royal Navy
File:US Navy O10 insignia.svg, Admiral
United States Navy
File:USCG O-10 insignia.svg, Admiral
United States Coast Guard
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg,
National Navy of Uruguay
File:Generic-Navy-12.svg,
Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela

National ranks

* Admiral (Australia)
* Admiral (Bangladesh)
* Admiral (Canada)
* Admiral (Denmark)
* Admiral (Germany)
* Admiral (India)
* Admiral (Netherlands)
* Admiral (Pakistan)
* Admiral (Russia)
* Admiral of Castile
* Admiral (Sri Lanka)
* Admiral (Sweden)
* Admiral (United Kingdom)
* Admiral (United States)

See also

*Admiralissimo
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty
*Comparative military ranks
*Isabel Barreto, the first female admiral
*Laksamana, native title for naval leaders in Indonesia and Malaysia
*Nebraska Admiral
*Ranks and insignia of NATO navies' officers

References

External links

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{{Authority control

Naval ranks
Admirals,