commander
Americannoun
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a person who commands.
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a person who exercises authority; chief officer; leader.
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the commissioned officer in command of a military unit.
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U.S. Navy. an officer ranking below a captain and above a lieutenant commander.
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a police officer in charge of a precinct or other unit.
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the chief officer of a commandery in the medieval orders of Knights Hospitalers, Knights Templars, and others.
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a member of one of the higher classes or ranks in certain modern fraternal orders, as in the Knights Templars.
noun
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an officer in command of a military formation or operation
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a naval commissioned rank junior to captain but senior to lieutenant commander
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the second in command of larger British warships
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someone who holds authority
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a high-ranking member of some knightly or fraternal orders
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an officer responsible for a district of the Metropolitan Police in London
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history the administrator of a house, priory, or landed estate of a medieval religious order
Other Word Forms
- commandership noun
- subcommander noun
- subcommandership noun
- undercommander noun
Etymology
Origin of commander
1250–1300; Middle English < Old French comandere, equivalent to comand ( er ) to command + -ere < Latin -ātōr- -ator
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was deployed to Afghanistan as a company commander while I was a squad leader in Iraq.
From Slate • Apr. 1, 2026
A well-regarded battalion commander in Yemen’s armed forces, Ashaal, then 42, worked a sideline in real estate with a partner.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026
Iran confirmed on Monday that Revolutionary Guards commander Alireza Tangsiri had been killed, days after Israel said it targeted him in an air strike.
From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026
“This is not a quick in and out kind of deal,” said retired Gen. Joseph Votel, the former commander of U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
She’d changed since my Lincoln simulation and looked every inch the commander in chief in her fitted black uniform.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
