The word admiral in Middle English comes from Anglo-French amiral, "commander", from Medieval Latin admiralis, admirallus.
These evolved from the Arabic amīral (أمير الـ) – amīr (أمير) [ʔmjr] (listenⓘ), "king, prince, chief, leader, nobleman, lord, a governor, commander, or person who rules over a number of people" and al (الـ), the Arabic definite article meaning "the."
[5] Additionally, the definition of Amīr (أمير), as given in Edward William Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon, concurs, in part, with Minsheu's definition, stating that the term means "One having, holding, or possessing, command; a commander; a governor; a lord; a prince, or king.
"[7][8] This position, versus "commander of the sea," is demonstrated by legal practices prevailing in the Ottoman Empire, whereas it was only possible for Phanariots to qualify for attaining four princely positions, those being grand dragoman, dragoman of the fleet, and the voivodees of Moldavia and Wallachia.
Those Phanariots who attained the princely position of dragoman of the fleet served under the Ottoman admiral having administration of the Aegean islands and the Anatolian coast.
[9] Modern acknowledgement of the phrase Amīr-al-Baḥr (أمير البحر) meaning "Prince of the Sea" includes a speech made in an official U.S. military ceremony conducted in an Arabic port, and a news article published by an Arabic news outlet: On 24 May 2012, in a change of command ceremony aboard aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65), while docked at Khalifa Bin Salman Port, Bahrain, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, Commander, U.S. Central Command, introduced Vice Admiral Mark I.
"[11] One alternate etymology proposes that the term admiral evolved, instead, from the title of Amīr al-Umarāʾ (أمير الأمراء).
This alternate etymology states that the term was in use for the Greco-Arab naval leaders (e.g. Christodulus) in the Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture of Norman Sicily, which had formerly been ruled by Arabs, at least by the early 11th century.
During this time, the Norman Roger II of Sicily (1095–1154) employed a Greek Christian, known as George of Antioch, who previously had served as a naval commander for several North African Muslim rulers.
[13] The French gave their sea commanders similar titles while in Portuguese and Spanish the word changed to almirante.
The Greek ναύαρχος, for instance, which is pronounced "naúarkhos", existed from very ancient times in Greece.
[17] The rank of admiral has also been subdivided into various grades, several of which are historically extinct while others remain in use in most present-day navies.