commander

[kuh-man-der, -mahn-] /kəˈmæn dər, -ˈmɑn-/
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.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English < Old French comandere, equivalent to comand(er) to command + -ere < Latin -ātōr- -ator
Related forms
commandership, noun
subcommander, noun
subcommandership, noun
undercommander, noun
Examples from the web for commander
  • Finally, in this case it was a reporter that was asking questions, not a military commander.
  • Recently, the commander's post has been a stepping stone to some of the top jobs in the whole of the military.
  • Every few months, a commander would report to him about each soldier's actual performance.
  • The exception is one soldier, who stands next to the unit commander to provide counter-sniper fire.
  • When something occurs that requires the commander's attention or a decision, options are immediately available.
  • Then blast off into a job interview with the commander.
  • The commander in chief's mood was as bleak as the landscape.
  • Both newspapers and the general public were worried they had once again elected a weak, indecisive commander-in-chief.
  • It is his duty to conduct the war in a manner consistent with being the commander in chief: win it, or stop it.
  • The master of a secret society is royal supreme knight commander.
British Dictionary definitions for commander

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
Derived Forms
commandership, noun
Word Origin and History for commander
n.

early 14c., comandur, from Old French comandeor, from comander (see command (v.)). Commander in chief attested from 1650s.