colonel

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɔ.lɔ.nɛl/^[1]

Forms

colonel m (plural colonels, feminine colonelle)^[1] Coulonnel (1534), colonnel (before 1544), colonel (1556); coronel, couronnel were also common in the 16th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian colonnello (“commander of a column”), recorded before 1543, from colonna (“column (of soldiers)”), from Latin columna (“column”) (see colonne).^{[2][3][5][4][6][1]}

The 16th-century form “coronel”, used until Malherbe, is probably not due to Spanish coronel, as the FEW thought, but to the swap of /l/ and /r/ common in Middle French, as in “mérancolie” for “mélancolie”.^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg note that Spanish still has that form, and Littré rejects a link with couronne.^[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Gironde document of 1534 has coulonnel de la légion, the commander of a regiment.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Jean de La Lande (1556) uses colonel for any military leader.^[2] As an adjective, compagnies coulonnelles (1559, Amyot) were companies commanded by a colonel general, and the feminine noun colonnelle (after 1578, Brantôme) named such a company.^[2][3] From 1689 la colonelle was the colonel's wife, and today also a woman with the rank of colonel.^[3][8]

Military slang shortened it to colo (1878) and colon (1888, Courteline), whence the admiring or ironic mon colon !.^[2][3] The rank of lieutenant-colonel is recorded in 1669.^[3]

Timeline

• 1534 – Coulonnel.^[2]
• 1540–1546 – Couronnel, in Amadis de Gaule.^[2]
• 1556 – Colonel.^[2]
• 1669 – Lieutenant-colonel.^[3]
• 1689 – Colonelle, the colonel's wife.^[3]
• 1888 – Slang colon, Courteline.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A colonel, a senior officer commanding a regiment: colonel d'infanterie.^[8][1]
2. (feminine, dated) Colonelle: a colonel's wife.^[8]
3. A dessert of lemon sorbet and vodka.^[1]

Related words

• colonel-major
• lieutenant-colonel
• colonne
• colon

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert