Forms: 3–4 amyrayl, amrayl, 5 amyrayle, amerayle; 4 amyral, 4–5 amyrall(e, amerel(le, 5 amyrel(le, 5–6 amiral, amerall(e, amrall, amrel(le; 3 admirail, -ale, 4–5 admyral, 4–6 admyrall(e, admiralle, 5–6 admerall, 5–7 admirall, 5– admiral. Also 3 admirald, 5 amireld; 4 ameraunt, 7 admirant. [a. OFr., ad. Arab. directly, or through med.L. or some other Rom. lang. The Arabic amīr commander, (f. amara, to command, order,) commonly Englished AMEER, EMIR, occurs in many titles followed by -al- ‘(of) the,’ as in amīr-al-umarā ruler of rulers, amīr-al-mā commander of the water, amīr-al-bahr, commander of the sea, the earliest of which is amīr-al-mūminīn commander of the faithful, assumed by the Caliph Omar, and Latinized in many forms by the early chroniclers (see Amirmumnes in Du Cange). As amīr is constantly followed by -al- in all such titles, amīr-al- was naturally assumed by Christian writers as a substantive word, and variously Latinized as amīr-ālis, -allus, -ālius, -ārius, OFr. amiral, -ail, -aill, -ayl, Pr. amirau, amirar, amiralh, Pg. amiralh, It. amiraglio. But as is usual with foreign words, popular etymology was soon at work on these original forms, assimilating them to more familiar words, (1) by treating the am- as = Fr. and Pr. am-:—L. adm-, and refashioning it accordingly as med.L. admir-ālis, -allus, -ālius, -ārius, Fr. admiral, -ail; (2) by assimilating it to other Arabic words in al- (which prob. began in Spain) as med.L. almirallus, OSp. almiralle, almirage, It. almiraglio, Fr. almiral, -ail; (3) by assimilating the ending to familiar Teutonic or Romance suffixes, as med.L. amir-aldus, OFr. amiralt, -ault, -aut (after names like Reginald), Sp. almirante (? after imperante), OFr. amirant, admirant; (4) by confusing the refashioned forms in adm- with derivatives of L. admīrāri to wonder at, whence med.L. admīrābilis (‘Rex Africæ qui dicitur vulgariter admirabilis mundi’), admīrandus, admīrātus (these again with the initial variations am-, amm-, alm-), whence Pr. amiratz, OFr. amiret, amiré, amirauble, amirafle, amirand, etc., etc. In Eng. the chief form represents OFr. amiral, -ayl, reduced in 16th c. by phonetic gradation to amrel, a pronunciation still common with sailors. But the refashioned admirale, -ail occurs as early as 1205, and became regular after 1500 as the literary form. Variants in -ald, -aunt, after med.L. amiraldus, and OFr. amirant, are also found in ME. As in the other languages the original meaning was ‘Emir, Saracen commander, ruler under the Caliph or Sultan’; the modern maritime use is due to the office of amīr-al-bahr or amīr-al-mā ‘Ameer of the sea’ (Sp. almirante de la mar), created by the Arabs in Spain and Sicily, continued by the Christian kings of Sicily, and adopted successively by the Genoese, French and English under Edward III. as ‘Amyrel of the Se,’ or ‘admyrall of the navy.’ After the original use became obsolete about 1500, admiral was used in the naval sense, without any qualification, as an English title.]
† 1. An emir or prince under the Sultan; any Saracen (or ‘infidel’) ruler or commander. Obs.
c. 1205. Layamon 27668. Þat on admiral: of Babiloine he wes ældere. Ibid., 27689. Þeos admirale sone, Gecron is ihate.
1297. R. Glouc., 407. An amrayl þere bysyde … Ȝeld hym vp to Cristene men. Ibid., 409. Þe kyng of Camele made pays, & an amyrayl also, And ȝeue hem gret garyson.
a. 1300. K. Horn, 95. Þanne spak on admira[l]d, Of wordes he was bald.
c. 1314. Guy Warw., 101. With that come forth an amireld, A Sarrazin.
1366. Maundevile, (1839), v. 38. Be the Cytees and be the Townes ben Amyralles, that have the Governance of the Peple.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 1920. ‘Y haue y-hurd .vj. of my fon,’ saide þe Amyrelle. Ibid., 532. Ne faȝt he neuere ȝet in felde: wyþ kyng ne Ameraunt, þat he ne asloȝ ouþer madem ȝelde.
1393. Gower, Conf., I. 196. Where that an heathen admiralle Was lorde.
c. 1430. Lydg., Bochas, V. v. (1554), 126 a. Old Hanniball Which of Chartage was chief Admirall.
c. 1450. Merlin, xviii. 281. Maglaant, an amyrall saisne cruewell and felon.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 190/4. Sone of the admyralle of babylone which was named exerses. Ibid. (1490), Eneydos, xxvii. 104. Pluto the grete god of hell admyrall of the styge.
[1561. J. Daus, trans. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573), 124 b. After Mahomet him selfe they had in order xxv Amirals (for so they called their Kings or Princes).]
2. The commander-in-chief of the navy of a country; in England, formerly, the title of ‘an officer or magistrate that has the government of the king’s navy, and the hearing and determining all causes, as well civil as criminal, belonging to the sea’ (Cowel), also styled more fully Lord High Admiral, whose administrative duties are now in commission, and discharged by five Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and his judicial functions vested in the High Court of Admiralty.
1460. Capgrave, Chron., 250. The Erl of Arundel, Richard, was mad amyrel of the se.
1480. Caxton, Chron. Eng., ccxliii. 290. Erle of kente made Admyral of Englond for to kepe the see.
1494. Fabyan, VI. cxcvii. 203. Elfricus, that than was mayster or admyrall of the Kynges nauy.
1513. Arnold, Chron. (1811), 47. Syr Edward Howard, the Amerall, with other, was drownyd.
1549. Edward VI., Death warrant, in Facsim. of National MSS., II. xliv. Sir Thomas Seymour knyght, Lorde Seymour of Sudeley, late Highe Admyrall of our Realme of Englande.
1556. Chron. Grey Friars of Lond. (1852), 37. The lorde amrelle of France came into Ynglond. Ibid., 54. Sir John Dudley that was amrelle of the see was made yerle of Warwyk [1547].
1699. Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), IV. 558. [The King of Spain] will suddenly recall to court the admirant of Castille.
1772. Pennant, Tours in Scotl. (1774), 161. The Earl of Bute is admiral of the county … but no way dependent on the lord high admiral of Scotland.
1868. Chambers, Encycl., I. 46. The office of Lord High Admiral was last filled by H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence, afterwards William IV.
3. A naval officer of the highest rank; the commander of a fleet or squadron; a flag-officer. In England there are four grades—Admiral of the Fleet, ranking with a field-marshal in the army; Admiral, Vice-Admiral and Rear-Admiral, ranking with a general, lieutenant-general and major-general, respectively. Formerly they were also divided into classes denominated from the colors hoisted by them, Admirals of the Red, White or Blue Squadron.
Hence Admiral of the Blue, an obs. jocose name for a tapster (from the color of his apron).
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., VII. ix. 99. Slwe þe amyrale of þat flot.
1475. Bk. of Noblesse (1860), 16. Johan erle or Hontyndon was made cheif admyralle of a new armee to rescue Harflue.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., III. x. 2. Thantoniad, the Egyptian Admirall, With all their sixty flye.
1656. Milton, Lett. of State, Wks. 1738, II. 198. One Giles, a French-man, a petty Admiral of four Ships.
1688. Lond. Gaz., mmccclvi./3. Sir Roger Strickland, Rear Admiral of England, rides present Admiral in the Downs of a Squadron of Ships.
1731. Poor Robin (N.). As soon as customers begin to stir, The Admiral of the Blue, crys, Coming, sir!
1853. Encycl. Brit., II. 142. For nearly a century we had no Admiral of the Red Squadron.
4. The privileged commander of a fishing or merchant fleet.
Fishing boats in the North Sea often fish in company—in fleets. They are all under the command of one man, who gives the orders when to shoot the nets, haul them, etc. He is called the ‘Admiral.’—R. G. Marsden. (Cf. ADMIRALTY 7.)
1708. Royal Proclam., June 26, in Lond. Gaz., mmmmcccclii. It is … Enacted, That whoever should after the said Five and twentieth Day of March, first enter with his Fishing-Ship, any Harbour or Creek in Newfoundland, should be for that Season Admiral of the said Harbour or Creek, and should reserve so much Beech or Flakes as should be necessary for his Boats, and One over, as a Privilege…; and the Master of the Second Fishing-Ship Entring such Harbour…, shall be Vice-Admiral, and the Master of the Third Ship…, Rear-Admiral for that Season … All Differences … shall be determin’d by the Fishing Admirals in the several Harbours; and an Appeal is given from such Judgment to the Commanders of the Men of War appointed Convoys for Newfoundland.
5. = Admiral-ship (cf. Fr. le vaisseau amiral. Milton’s ammiral is in imitation of It. ammiraglia ‘an admirall or chief ship’ (Florio); cf. ammiraglio, later form of almiraglio: see above): The ship that carries the admiral; the Flag-ship. Also applied to the most considerable ship of a fleet of merchantmen, or of the vessels employed in the Newfoundland cod-fishery.
1588. in Harl. Misc. (Malh.), II. 52. The admiral and another ship of four hundred tons.
1590. Webbe, Trav. (1868), 19. The Harry appertayning to the company of the Marchants, was our Vice-admirall.
1622. R. Hawkins, Voy. to S. Sea, 19. The admirall of the Spanish armada was a Flemish shippe.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 294. The mast Of some great Ammiral.
1725. De Foe, Voy. round World (1840), 79. Under orders of the great ship as admiral.
1865. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., II. VII. vi. 317. Tall branchy timbers yonder, one day to be masts of admirals.
6. Pop. name of two European species of butterfly (fam. Vanessidæ), distinguished as the Red and the White Admiral (Vanessa Atalanta, and Limenitis Sibylla). The name belonged at first to the former, also (perh. originally) the Admirable; see ADMIRAL a.
1720. Albin, Nat. Hist. Eng. Insects, Plate III. A most beautiful Fly called the Admiral Butter-fly.
1798. E. Donovan, Nat. Hist. Brit. Ins., VIII. 20. The red admirable Butterfly is certainly a very common species.
1868. Baring-Gould, Silver Store, 116. Admirals on bark of oak Tarry till a sunny stroke O’er their scarlet stripes and rings Drinks the water from their wings.
7. Conch., = Admiral-shell: A collector’s name for certain beautiful shells of the genus Conus.
1748. Sir J. Hill, Gen. Nat. Hist., Anim., 137. The admiral-shell, the voluta with a broad yellow fascia, with a punctuated line in it.
1819. Pantologia, I. s.v., There are four species of this shell, viz. the grand-admiral, the vice-admiral, the orange-admiral, and the extra-admiral.
8. Attrib. and Comb., as admiral court, galley, ship, etc.; also admiral-in-chief or admiral-general, the supreme naval commander.
1681. Lond. Gaz., mdcliv/4. An Act concerning the Jurisdiction of Admiral-Court.
1770. Langhorne, Plutarch’s Lives (1879), I. 138/1. Themistocles was sacrificing on the deck of the admiral-galley.
1600. Holland, Livy, XXXVI. xliv. 943 c. Livius … advaunced forward with the Admirall ship [prætoria nave].
1692. Lond. Gaz., mmdcclxi/1. The Admiral Ship, which is to carry 70 Guns. Ibid. (1699), mmmdxxx/2. Baron Jewell is made Admiral General.
1849. Grote, Greece (1862), V. II. lxi. 343. An act of direct insubordination … towards the admiral-in-chief.
