potentate
noun
- ruler, sovereign
- one who wields great power or sway
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”).
- 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”).
- 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.”
- A powerful polity or institution.
- A self-important person.
- 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."”