Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general or air chief marshal in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked 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 definite article meaning "the." In Arabic, admiral is also represented as (), where al-Baḥr (البحر) 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:

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."

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 grand dragoman, 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 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 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), while docked at Khalifa Bin Salman Port, Bahrain, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, Commander, U.S. Central Command, introduced 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-related death, the Arabic news website Saudi 24 News referred to Admiral Edmond Chagoury by the title "Prince of the Sea."

One alternate etymology proposes that the term admiral evolved, instead, from the title of 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,

The Sicilians and later the Genoese took the first two parts of the term from their Aragon opponents and used them as one word, . . The French gave their sea commanders similar titles while in Portuguese and Spanish 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.

The etymology of a word does not suggest the antiquity of the word as it may have appeared in other languages with entirely different pronunciations. The Greek ναύαρχος, for instance, which is pronounced "naúarkhos", existed from very ancient times in Greece. While ναύαρχος may be defined as "admiral" as used by Plutarch in his Parallel Lives, the very pronunciation of ναύαρχος demonstrates that it is not a part of the etymology for the English word "admiral."

History

The word "admiral" has come to be almost exclusively associated with the highest 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 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 Cromwellian "general at sea".

NATO code

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

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

! rowspan=2| NATO code

! rowspan=2| Country

! colspan=2| English equivalent

|-

! UK

! US

|-

! OF-9

| Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey,

| Admiral

| Admiral

|-

! OF-8

| Albania, Spain

| Vice admiral

| Vice admiral

|}

Admiral insignia by country

<gallery class="center">

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|<br />Albanian Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|<br />Argentine Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|Admiral<br />Royal Australian Navy

File:Azerbaijan-Navy-OF-8.svg|<br />Azerbaijani Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|Admiral<br />Bangladesh Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|<br /><br />Belgian Navy

File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O11.svg|<br />Bolivian Naval Force

File:Generic-Navy-13.svg|<br />Brazilian Navy

File:Bulgaria-Navy-OF-9 sleeve.svg|<br /><br />Bulgarian Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|Admiral<br /><br />Royal Canadian Navy

File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O11.svg|<br />Chilean Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|<br />Colombian Navy

File:18.DRCN-VADM.svg|<br />Navy of DR of Congo

File:Croatia-Navy-OF-9.svg|<br />Croatian Navy

File:Cuba-Navy-OF-8.svg|<br />Cuban Revolutionary Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|<br />Royal Danish Navy

File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O11.svg|<br />Dominican Navy

File:Ecuador-Navy-OF-9.svg|<br />Ecuadorian Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|<br />Estonian Navy

File:Finland-Navy-OF-9.svg|<br /><br />Finnish Navy

File:France-Navy-OF-9 Sleeve.svg|<br />French Navy

File:23.GN-ADM.svg|<br />Gabonese Navy

File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O11.svg|<br />German Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|Admiral<br />Ghana Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|Admiral<br /><br />Indian Navy

File:Rank insignia of ammiraglio of the Italian Navy.svg|<br />Italian Navy

File:Ivory Coast-Navy-OF-9.svg|<br />Navy of Ivory Coast

File:Russia-Navy-OF-8-Sleeve.svg|<br /><br />Kazakh Naval Forces

File:19. Madagascar Navy - ADM.svg|<br />Madagascar Navy

File:Mexico-Navy-OF8 sleeve.svg|<br />Mexican Navy

File:Montenegro-Navy-OF-9.svg|<br />Montenegrin Navy

File:Morocco-Navy-OF-9.svg|<br />Royal Moroccan Navy

File:Mozambique-Navy-OF-9.svg|<br />Mozambique Naval Command

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|Admiral<br />Nigerian Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|<br />Royal Norwegian Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|Admiral<br />Pakistan Navy

File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O12.svg|<br />Paraguayan Navy

File:Peru-Navy-OF-9.svg|<br />Peruvian Navy

File:PN ADM BlkDr-Slv.svg|Admiral<br />Philippine Navy

File:Poland-Navy-OF-9.svg|<br />Polish Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|<br />Portuguese Navy

File:Romania-Navy-OF-9-Sleeve.svg|<br />Romanian Naval Forces

File:Russia-Navy-OF-8-Sleeve.svg|<br /><br />Russian Navy

File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O12.svg|<br /><br />Serbian River Flotilla

File:Generic-Navy-13.svg|<br />Slovenian Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|Admiral<br />South African Navy

File:Spain-Navy-OF-8.svg|<br />Spanish Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|Admiral<br />Sri Lanka Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|<br />Swedish Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|<br /><br />Tunisia Navy

File:Russia-Navy-OF-8-1994-everyday.svg|<br />Turkmen Naval Forces

File:Ukraine-Navy-OF-9.svg|<br /><br />Ukrainian Navy

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|Admiral<br />Royal Navy

File:Generic-Navy-(star v2)-O11.svg|Admiral<br />United States Navy

File:US-CoastGuard-O10.svg|Admiral<br />United States Coast Guard

File:Generic-Navy-12.svg|<br />Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela

</gallery>

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 (Ukraine)
  • Admiral (United Kingdom)
  • Admiral (United States)

See also

  • Admiralissimo
  • Admiralty
  • Comparative military ranks
  • Artemisia I, earliest known female admiral in ancient world
  • Isabel Barreto, first female admiral in modern world
  • Laksamana, native title for naval leaders in Indonesia and Malaysia
  • Keumalahayati, earliest female admiral (the first female Laksamana) in modern world
  • Nebraska Admiral
  • Ranks and insignia of NATO navies' officers

References