“ COMMODORE (a form of “commander”; in the 17th century the term “commandore” is used) , a temporary rank in the British navy for an officer in command of a squadron. There are two kinds, one with and the other without a captain below him in his ship, the first holding the temporary rank, pay, &c., of a rear-admiral, the other that of captain. It is also given as a courtesy title to the senior officer of a squadron of more than three vessels. In the United States navy “commodore” was a courtesy title given to captains who had been in command of a squadron. ”