# Confusing Military Words **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-military-words/274630 "2004-11-14T00:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-military-words/274630/21 "2004-11-15T16:42:27Z")
> [@Roches](#): > > _Surrender_ and _defeat_ both come from French, but so do _victory_, _triumph_ and _conquest_. The reason why many basic military words in English are derived from French is that French-speaking people conquered England in 1066. That’s worth noting for those who characterize France as cowardly and militarily weak because their generals didn’t sufficiently guard the Ardennes in 1940 (among other things). A second generation of French military words entered English later, especially during the transition to combat with firearms, perhaps influenced to an extent by the French military engineer Vauban. These would include _redoubt, defilade, batallion, platoon, corps_, practically all of the names of military ranks (colonel, lieutenant, etc.), and many others. [nitpick] 'Colonel" comes from the Spanish for “Column”, and referred to the officer that was placed in charge for that formation (the formation itself being an Italian innovation). [A classic Cecil column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_250.html) discussed this, as does an excellent history of military ranks available for the [Naval Historical Center](http://www.history.navy.mil/trivia/trivia04.htm) website. [/nitpick] Otherwise, you are completely correct, of course. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-military-words/274630/22 "2004-11-16T02:00:11Z")
> [@paperbackwriter](#): > > [nitpick] > 'Colonel" comes from the Spanish for “Column”, and referred to the officer that was placed in charge for that formation (the formation itself being an Italian innovation). [A classic Cecil column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_250.html) discussed this, as does an excellent history of military ranks available for the [Naval Historical Center](http://www.history.navy.mil/trivia/trivia04.htm) website. > [/nitpick] > Otherwise, you are completely correct, of course. Except my Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, which is usually the end authority, says about _colonel_: > [@](#): > > Originally(1548) spelled _coronel_, borrowed from MIddle French _coronel, coronnel,_ which with Spanish _coronel_ came from Italian _colonnello_, the commander of a column of soldiers at the head of a regiment, from _colonna_ column, from Latin _columna_ pillar, post, COLUMN. He then says that the first **l** in _colonnello_ being changed to an **r** is due to “dissimilation of two identical neighboring sounds.” He also offers that both pronunciations (colonel and coronel) were used until the early 19th century, when “'kernel” became the favored pronunciation, but it remained colonel in print. So, my take is that it’s Italian from the Latin. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-military-words/274630/23 "2004-11-16T02:11:11Z")
…and so Gaudere’s Law comes to haunt another Doper… ---
**Author:** ![chunks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@chunks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chunks)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-military-words/274630/24 "2004-11-16T17:34:32Z")
So in baseball, why do only the pitcher and catcher make up the battery? ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-military-words/274630/25 "2004-11-16T19:45:46Z")
My understanding – which I’d appreciate having more learned etymologists correct if necessary – is that battery (from the French for pummel) was eventually applied not just to a gun, but to a collection of cannon, operating as a unit. From there, it became slightly abstracted and applied to many more groups of items, working together, such as a battery of tests. Early electrical researchers connected a bunch of voltage-producing cells together to get the higher voltage they wanted. They called this group a battery, implying a group working together. Later, popular usage started referring to any electrical storage device as a battery, even if it was a single cell (as most flashlight and other batteries are). I haven’t heard the term much in baseball, but it probably comes from a combination of the middle concept – a group working together – with some overtones of the cannon usage – as pitchers throwing balls are kind of analagous to cannons shooting cannonballs. I kind of thought it referred to the bullpen (i.e. a collection of pitchers), but I haven’t spent nearly enough time spitting sunflower seeds to be any more definite. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-military-words/274630/26 "2004-11-16T21:15:56Z")
I think **Quercus** has the essence of it precisely. I’ve heard battery used to describe a group of similar items on occasion. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-military-words/274630/27 "2004-11-16T23:47:52Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > I haven’t heard the term much in baseball, but it probably comes from a combination of the middle concept – a group working together – with some overtones of the cannon usage – as pitchers throwing balls are kind of analagous to cannons shooting cannonballs. I kind of thought it referred to the bullpen (i.e. a collection of pitchers), but I haven’t spent nearly enough time spitting sunflower seeds to be any more definite. Battery, to mean a pitcher/catcher combo, was well-used by the 1880’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-military-words/274630.md?page=1)