commander

[kuh-man-der, -mahn-]

noun

1. a person who commands.

2. a person who exercises authority; chief officer; leader.

3. the commissioned officer in command of a military unit.

4. U.S. Navy.,  an officer ranking below a captain and above a lieutenant commander.

5. a police officer in charge of a precinct or other unit.

6. the chief officer of a commandery in the medieval orders of Knights Hospitalers, Knights Templars, and others.

7. a member of one of the higher classes or ranks in certain modern fraternal orders, as in the Knights Templars.

commander

/ kəˈmɑːndə /

noun

1. an officer in command of a military formation or operation

2. a naval commissioned rank junior to captain but senior to lieutenant commander

3. the second in command of larger British warships

4. someone who holds authority

5. a high-ranking member of some knightly or fraternal orders

6. an officer responsible for a district of the Metropolitan Police in London

7. 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of commander¹

1250–1300; Middle English < Old French comandere, equivalent to comand ( er ) to command + -ere < Latin -ātōr- -ator

Example Sentences

Two others were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries at Albufeira Camping Park in the Algarve, Faro's district commander for rescue operations told a press conference.

Read more on BBC

Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino has faced heavy scrutiny from a judge over federal agents’ conduct.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Forces loyal to Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar have been providing smuggled fuel to Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on behalf of the United Arab Emirates, a report by US-based watchdog The Sentry said on Thursday.

Read more on Barron's

Sánchez said that the camp belonged to members of a dissident group led by a commander known by the alias of Iván Mordisco.

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That’s no answer to present concerns about, say, the foreign jihadist commanders in Syria’s army.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• administrator 
• captain 
• chief 
• commandant 
• director 
• head 
• officer 
• ruler