"commander of the army," a title of certain officers in Greek history, 1570s, from Greek polemarkhos "one who begins or leads a war," from polemos "war" (a word of unknown origin) + arkhos "leader, chief, ruler" (see archon).
polder
Pole
pole
poleax
polecat
polemarch
polemic
polemicist
polemicize
polemology
polenta