generalissimo

See also: generalíssimo

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian generalissimo, superlative of generale.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌd͡ʒɛnəɹəˈlisimoʊ/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌd͡ʒɛnəɹəˈliːsɪməʊ/, /ˌd͡ʒɛnəɹəˈlɪsɪməʊ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

generalissimo (plural generalissimos or generalissimi)

1. (military) A supreme commander of the armed forces of a country, especially one who is also a political leader.
   • 1936, H. Hessell Tiltman, The Far East Comes Nearer‎^[1], Jarrolds, page 249:

     Where stands Marshal Chiang Kai-shek in this conflict of opinion concerning the tactics which China should adopt towards the aggressor? Chiang Kai-shek, according to officials who know his mind with whom I have talked, is all for resistance—as soon as he thinks he can win! “It is a fatal mistake for the Japanese to imagine that I will not fight under any circumstances,” he has said. But the Chinese Generalissimo is too well versed in the philosophy of his country not to recollect that it is foolish to fight with the certainty of defeat.

Translations

supreme commander

• Bulgarian: генерали́симус m (generalísimus)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大元帥／大元帅 (zh) (dàyuánshuài), 大帥／大帅 (zh) (dàshuài) (colloquial)

• Czech: generalissimus m
• Esperanto: ĉefgeneralo
• Finnish: generalissimo, generalissimus (fi)
• French: généralissime (fr) m
• Georgian: გენერალისიმუსი (generalisimusi)
• German: Generalissimus m
• Greek: αρχιστράτηγος (el) m (archistrátigos)
• Irish: ardghinearál m
• Italian: generalissimo m
• Japanese: 総統 (ja) (そうとう, sōtō), 大元帥 (ja) (daigensui)
• Kazakh: генералиссимус (generalissimus)
• Korean: 총통(總統) (chongtong), 대원수(大元帥) (ko) (daewonsu)
• Macedonian: генерали́симус m (generalísimus)
• Manx: ard-chionfenee m
• Portuguese: generalíssimo (pt) m
• Romanian: generalisim (ro) m
• Russian: генерали́ссимус (ru) m (generalíssimus)
• Spanish: generalísimo (es) m
• Turkish: başkomutan (tr)

Further reading

• generalissimo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “generalissimo”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• mineralogises

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒe.ne.raˈlis.si.mo/
• Rhymes: -issimo
• Hyphenation: ge‧ne‧ra‧lìs‧si‧mo

Noun

generalissimo m (plural generalissimi)

1. commander in chief

Descendants

• → English: generalissimo

Latin

Adjective

generālissimō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of generālissimus