(in the Altaic group of languages) a title held by hereditary rulers or tribal chiefs.
the supreme ruler of the Tatar tribes, as well as emperor of China, during the Middle Ages: a descendant of Genghis Khan.
a title of respect used in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and other countries of Asia.
(formerly) a title borne by medieval Chinese emperors and Mongol and Turkic rulers: usually added to a name
Kublai Khan
such a ruler
a title of respect borne by important personages in Afghanistan and central Asia
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English Ca(a)n, Chan, ultimately from Turkic Khān, apparently contraction of Khāgān, equivalent to Turkish kağan “ruler”
1350–1400; < Arabic < Persian; replacing Middle English alchan < Arabic ( al the + khān )
Historically, khans were Central Asian emperors, nobles, and military leaders. One of the most famous was Genghis Khan, ruler of the 13th-century Mongol empire. The power held by someone with the title of khan depended on the country or region. In some places a khan was the most powerful ruler, and in others the khan merely controlled an army or small nomadic tribe. While the use of khan as a title faded after the Middle Ages, it became a common surname among South and Central Asian Muslims. Khan's Turkic root is khaqan, or "ruler."
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"Victims were led to believe that only Khan could protect them and their families from catastrophic supernatural harm, and that withdrawing from his control would expose them to devastating consequences," Prof Gill adds.
From BBC • May 14, 2026
Khan, a former Amazon senior applied scientist who developed customer-service platform models, says he has created a new way to address that problem.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
Farah, also not her real name, met Khan as a child after he convinced her mother she needed healing.
From BBC • May 14, 2026
Khan applied a similar idea to data, drawing on the mathematical concept of the graphon from which the company takes its name.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
Gul Khan seated them at one of the six tables in the practically empty restaurant.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
