Basic Details
Word: Napoleon
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), the French general who rose to power after the French Revolution and crowned himself Emperor of the French in 1804.
How to Spell Napoleon
Syllables: Na - po - le - on
Tricky part: It has four syllables, Na-po-le-on, and the last two vowels are e then o. Students often write lean at the end, as in Napolean.
Watch out for: Napolean, Napolion, Nepoleon
Memory tip: Break it into Na-po-le-on and notice Leon near the end, a name meaning lion: Napoleon, the lion of France.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Napoleon spent his last years on the remote island of St Helena.
Example 2: Our history chapter compares Napoleon with Alexander the Great.
Example 3: The painting shows Napoleon on a rearing horse in the snowy Alps.
Fun Fact
Napoleon is often called very short, but records suggest he was about 1.69 metres tall, roughly average for a Frenchman of his time. The myth grew partly because French inches were longer than English ones.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. emporer 2. Napoleon 3. revolusion 4. battallion
a) the ruler of an empire
b) the overthrow of a government by its people
c) a French general who made himself emperor in 1804
d) a large group of soldiers, part of a brigade
Show answer
c) a French general who made himself emperor in 1804. Napoleon is the only correct spelling; the others should be emperor, revolution and battalion.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
Nap_l_on
a) o, a
b) a, e
c) o, e
d) e, e
Show answer
c) o, e. Sound it out as na-po-le-on: an o after the p and an e after the l.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
In 1800 the general noelpoan led the French army across the Alps into Italy.
a) Nepalese
b) Neapolitan
c) Napoleon
d) Pantheon
Show answer
c) Napoleon. The eight letters, with two o's and two n's, make Napoleon, the general who later became emperor.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Napoleon was the ruler of which country?
a) Spain
b) France
c) Italy
d) Russia
Show answer
b) France
2. Which battle ended Napoleon's rule in 1815?
a) Panipat
b) Hastings
c) Waterloo
d) Plassey
Show answer
c) Waterloo
