Word.ws English Dictionary

admirail

admirail is the obsolete form of admiral.

Meaning of admiral

Noun

admiral (plural admirals)

  1. (informal) The commander of a naval squadron or fleet, regardless of formal rank.
  2. The appointed commander of a navy, regardless of formal title.
  3. A high rank in the British and American Navies, NATO grade OF-9, equivalent ranks in other navies, in coast guards, etc.
    • ... from my experience in Ours as well as from my former intimacy with many Officers of Note in the British Navy, I am convinced that the Parity of Rank between Sea & land or Marine Officers, is of more consequence to the harmony of the Service, than hath generally been imagined. — in the British...1776 September 4, John Paul Jones, letter to Robert Morris
  4. The commander of a fishing or merchant fleet, particularly (historical, Canada) a captain granted special privileges in exchange for bringing the first ship of a given fishing season to certain harbors in Newfoundland.
  5. Any of several species of nymphalid butterflies of the genera Kaniska, Limenitis and Vanessa.
  6. The shell of the Conus ammiralis; the cone shells of various other species displaying similarly intricate banding.

See all 9 meanings of admiral

Forms of admirail

pluraladmirails

Questions about admirail

What is admirail the obsolete form of?
Admirail is the obsolete form of admiral.

Words near admirail in the dictionary

  1. admirable grasshopper
  2. admirableness
  3. admirables
  4. admirablest
  5. admirably
  6. admirail
  7. admiral
  8. admiral of the fleet
  9. Admiral of the Red
  10. admiral of the Swiss Navy
  11. admiral sauce

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: admirail (page history and authors); admiral (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “admirail.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/admirail. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.