monarch

American  

[mon-erk, -ahrk] / ˈmɒn ərk, -ɑrk /

noun

• monarchs
  plural

1. a hereditary sovereign, as a king, queen, or emperor.

2. a sole and absolute ruler of a state or nation.

3. a person or thing that holds a dominant position.

   a monarch of international shipping.

4. monarch butterfly.

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monarch British  

/ ˈmɒnək /

noun

1. a sovereign head of state, esp a king, queen, or emperor, who rules usually by hereditary right

2. a supremely powerful or pre-eminent person or thing

3. Also called: milkweed.  a large migratory butterfly, Danaus plexippus, that has orange-and-black wings and feeds on the milkweed plant: family Danaidae

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• monarchism
  noun
• monarchist
  noun
• antimonarch
  adjective
• monarchal
  adjective
• monarchical
  adjective
• monarchistic
  adjective
• monarchally
  adverb
• monarchically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• monarchs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of monarch

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French monarche, monarch, from Late Latin monarcha, from Greek mónarchos “sole ruler, monarch”; see mon-, -arch

Explanation

If you think the Queen of England is just the coolest thing ever, then you like monarchs: hereditary rulers of countries usually known as king or queen. You might think your principal rules with absolute power, but that's not really true: there's a school board and an administration and she can't really control everything. But a monarch can. Monarch comes from the Greek mono, "one," and archon, "ruler." Many modern monarchies actually have parliaments and constitutions, leaving the monarch more symbolic than powerful. A monarch is also a particularly royal looking butterfly with orange wings and black and white spots.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

monarch monarchs

He added when challenged: "Well, I'm not dealing with King Charles as monarch in this book, this is all 30-odd years ago and what was said and done then."

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

The British monarch hosted executives from Nvidia, Anthropic, Google DeepMind and OpenAI, along with an AI adviser to the Vatican, and tasked them with building consensus to ensure the future of mankind is protected.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

In 2007, Gordon Brown decided the Church should only present a single candidate to the prime minister, who would then pass it on to the monarch to confirm.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

Its Crown is not chiefly an expression of affection for a monarch.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Whenever the Parliament clashed with their monarch, the king would get his way by suddenly convening Parliament in a remote, unreachable part of the country.

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy

European monarchs and world leaders paid tribute Friday to Norway's King Harald, after the royal palace announced his death at the age of 89.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

The 89-year-old, who is one of Europe's longest-serving monarchs, has been treated in recent weeks with cortisone for rare blood condition haemolytic anaemia.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Martin and Lewis became the monarchs of all media, conquering radio, nightclubs, television and the silver screen.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

Historically, monarchs had a court of advisers, diplomats and merchants who jockeyed for proximity to limitless power.

From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026

In his time, Pompey passed these statues on the way to his betrayal; Caesar, pursuing his rival, gazed at these faces too, and probably pondered the quality of the monarchs they represented.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

Related Words

• emperor
• king
• queen
• sovereign