ADMIRAL

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French amiral commander & Medieval Latin ~is emir, ~lus ~, from Arabic amīr-al- commander of the (as in amīr-al-baḥr commander of the sea) Date: 15th century the commander in chief of a navy, 2. flag officer , a commissioned officer in the navy or coast guard who ranks above a vice ~ and whose insignia is four stars, flagship , any of several brightly colored nymphalid butterflies