COMMODORE, a general officer in the British marine, invested with the command of a detachment of ships of war destined on any particular enterprise, during which time he bears the rank of brigadier-general in the army, and his ship is distinguished from the rest of his squadron by a broad red pendant tapering towards the outer end, and sometimes forked. The word is corrupted from the Spanish comendador, which signifies both the superior of a monastery, and a knight who holds a commandery.