Colonel or coronel?
colonel is a noun meaning “A commissioned officer in an armed military organization, typically the highest…”; coronel is a noun meaning “Alternative form of cronel”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) colonel is about 162 times as common as coronel.
What is the difference between colonel and coronel?
| colonel | coronel | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun |
| Meaning | A commissioned officer in an armed military organization, typically the highest rank before flag officer ranks (generals). It is generally found in armies, air… A military leader, distinct from the modern professional military rank To act as or like a colonel | Alternative form of cronel |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | colonels | coronels |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɜːnəl/ [ˈkɜːnl̩] ~ [ˈkəː.nl̩] /ˈkəːnəl/ | /ˈkɔɹ(ə)nəl/ /ˈkɒɹənəl/ |
| In writing | 26 times per million words | about once in every 6 million words |
Sources: colonel and coronel in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of colonel and coronel
colonel
- 1
A commissioned officer in an armed military organization, typically the highest rank before flag officer ranks (generals). It is generally found in armies, air forces or naval infantry (marines)
- 2
To act as or like a colonel
- 3
The military officer title
- 4
A military leader, distinct from the modern professional military rank
- 5
An honorary civilian title bestowed by some southern US states, most commonly Kentucky; notably Colonel Sanders of KFC
- 6
datedAn informal title used to address an elderly man
- 7
USA form of address for an auctioneer, from the American Civil War practice of commanding officers organizing the public sale of seized goods
coronel
- 1
Alternative form of cronel
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, colonel or coronel?
colonel appears 26 times per million words; coronel about once in every 6 million words.
colonel 26 times per million wordscoronel about once in every 6 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).