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potentate

noun

  1. ruler, sovereign
  2. one who wields great power or sway
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Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈpəʊ.tən.teɪt/ / /ˈpoʊ.tən.teɪt/

adj

Etymology: From Middle English potentat, from Old French, from Late Latin potentātus (“rule, political power”), from Latin potēns (“powerful, strong”), the active present participle of possum (“to be able”).

  1. Regnant, powerful, dominant.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English potentat, from Old French, from Late Latin potentātus (“rule, political power”), from Latin potēns (“powerful, strong”), the active present participle of possum (“to be able”).

  1. A powerful leader; a monarch; a ruler.

    But Kings and mightieſt Potentates muſt die, For that's the end of humane miſerie.

    She was now one of a group of oriental beauties who, in the second act of the comic opera, were paraded by the vizier before the new potentate as the treasures of his harem.

  2. A powerful polity or institution.
  3. A self-important person.
  4. Someone acting in an important role.

    "Those foreigners," thought the female potentate of the Sun, "won't know what to order; but I'll show them what a good supper is."