Why is the word Army Colonel not spelled Army Cernel?

Question

Or Kernel? Why Colonel, which is phonetically different?

Answer 1

That's English for you. why don't comb and tomb rhyme? tomb, room, fume

Answer 2

It's Latin-Italian for columna meaning column. The leader walked at the head of the column of soldiers. It came via French so that changed the pronunciation. Another English word to memorize.

Ancient uses of the word colonel date back to Roman regiments, where a colonel was the officer in charge of a column of soldiers. The term then reappeared in the Middle Ages, as a nobleman in command of a large number of soldiers, forming early units similar to battalions and regiments. The head colonel of the battlefield would usually become the Colonel General, and command all other colonels and their troops.

The modern usage of the word colonel began in the late sixteenth century, when companies were first formed into larger regiments or columns (colonne in Italian) under the leadership of a colonnello. (In modern English, the word is pronounced similarly to kernel as a result of having entered the language from Middle French in two competing forms, coronel and colonel. The more etymological colonel was favored in literary works and eventually became the standard spelling despite losing the pronunciation war to the dissimilated coronel.)

Answer 3

My guess is because colonel is obviously from the root word colony...which is how the nation got started...

Answer 4

Why is 'lieutenant' pronounced as such by Americans but 'leftenant' by the British?