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• Pharaoh
  Pharaoh

  noun

  a title of an ancient Egyptian king.
• pharaoh
  pharaoh

  The title of the kings of ancient Egypt (see also Egypt). In the story of Joseph and his brothers, a pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of his entire kingdom. In the Book of Exodus, a pharaoh repeatedly refuses the request of Moses to let the Israelites leave the country and does not give in until after the worst of the ten plagues of Egypt.

Pharaoh

American  

[fair-oh, far-oh, fey-roh] / ˈfɛər oʊ, ˈfær oʊ, ˈfeɪ roʊ /

noun

• Pharaohs
  plural

1. a title of an ancient Egyptian king.

2. (lowercase) any person who uses power or authority to oppress others; tyrant.

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Pharaoh British  

/ ˈfɛərəʊ, fɛəˈrɒnɪk /

noun

1. the title of the ancient Egyptian kings

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pharaoh Cultural  

1. The title of the kings of ancient Egypt (see also Egypt). In the story of Joseph and his brothers, a pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of his entire kingdom. In the Book of Exodus, a pharaoh repeatedly refuses the request of Moses to let the Israelites leave the country and does not give in until after the worst of the ten plagues of Egypt.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Pharaonic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Pharaohs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Pharaoh

before 900; Middle English Pharao, Old English Pharaon < Latin pharaō < Greek pharaṓ (stem pharaōn- ) < Hebrew phārʿōh < Egyptian pr house + ʿʾ great; originally a designation for the palace, but used to refer to the king from the time of Akhenaton (14th cent. b.c.); -h restored from Hebrew

Explanation

In ancient Egypt, a king was known as a pharaoh. Ramses the Great, one of the most powerful pharaohs, ruled Egypt for almost 70 years. The pharaohs played important roles in both religious and everyday life — they were viewed as emissaries between mortals and gods. These monarchs were also military commanders, landowners, and tax collectors. The spiritual component of a pharaoh's job included choosing sites for new temples and leading religious ceremonies. Today, we know several pharaohs mainly from their mummified remains found in tombs by archaeologists. Pharaoh comes from an Egyptian root meaning "great house."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Pharaoh pharaoh Pharaohs

For a man who considers himself the greatest builder the world has ever known — move over, Pharaoh Khufu!

From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026

Mr. Epstein’s distinction between Jew and Jew-ish brings to mind Moses at the burning bush, and his first question to God—Who am I to go to Pharaoh?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026

The radiocarbon ages for the Santorini event were markedly older than the first radiocarbon dates obtained for artifacts associated with Pharaoh Ahmose and those from the 17th to early 18th Dynasty.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 7, 2025

The Dutch government said the sculpture of a high-ranking official from the dynasty of Pharaoh Thutmose III is "deeply meaningful to Egypt's identity".

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2025

Didn’t Moses lead the children of Israel out of the bloody hands of Pharaoh and into the Promised Land?

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

Four of the six individuals were sisters and daughters of the pharaoh Amenemhat II. They had been placed in matching underground burial chambers.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

Historical brain teasers: Do you know which pharaoh the Great Pyramid of Giza was constructed for?

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026

But we know what narrator Ramin Karimloo means: The last significant pharaoh continues to occupy the dreams of Egyptologists scouring the dust for traces of his history.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026

Stasevska was born in 1984, the same year that Glass’ hypnotic, ritualistic opera, about an Egyptian pharaoh who dared to push monotheism onto his polytheistic culture, debuted in Stuttgart, Germany.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026

“The pharaoh wants you to draw the hieroglyphs that will be carved into the obelisk.”

From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman

In an incident-packed game, Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir produced a magnificent save to keep out Messi's penalty before the Pharaohs thought they had scored another only for it to be disallowed.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

In the second half, Mostafa Zico made it 2-0 to Egypt, moments after the Pharaohs had a goal disallowed by instant replay for a foul that occurred at the other end of the pitch.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

In Agadir, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it.

From Barron's ● Jan. 10, 2026

Marwan Attia put the Pharaohs ahead on 69 minutes, sidefooting superbly into the roof of the net from just outside the box after being set up by Mohamed Hany.

From Barron's ● Jan. 5, 2026

The rulers of such a state are absolute, as the Pharaohs or the Caesars could not be.

From "1984" by George Orwell

Related Words

• emperor
• king
• monarch
• ruler