Polkovnik

This article is about the OF-5 rank Polkovnik in mostly Slavophone countries. For the equivalent rank in Anglophone armed forces see Colonel; in Austria and Germany see Oberst.

Polkovnik (literally "regimentary") is a military rank in Slavic countries mostly which corresponds to a colonel in English-speaking states, and oberst in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries. The term originates from an ancient Slavic word for a group of soldiers and folk. However, in Cossack Hetmanate (Hetmanshchyna) and Slobozhanshchyna, polkovnyk was an administrative rank similar to a governor. Usually this word is translated as colonel, however the transliteration is also in common usage, for the sake of the historical and social context. Polkovnik began as a commander of a distinct group of troops (polk), arranged for battle.