Alexander the Great

American  

noun

1. 356–323 b.c., king of Macedonia 336–323: conqueror of Greek city-states and of the Persian empire from Asia Minor and Egypt to India.

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Alexander the Great British  

noun

1. 356–323 _bc , king of Macedon, who conquered Greece (336), Egypt (331), and the Persian Empire (328), and founded Alexandria

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Alexander the Great Cultural  

1. A ruler of Greece in the fourth century b.c. As a general, he conquered most of the ancient world, extending the civilization of Greece east to India. Alexander is said to have wept because there were no worlds left to conquer. In Alexander's youth, the philosopher Aristotle was his tutor.

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Before beginning his conquests, Alexander allegedly unloosed the Gordian knot by cutting through it. It was believed that the person who unfastened the Gordian knot would rule a vast territory in Asia. Alexander founded the city of Alexandria, which became a great center of learning in Egypt (see also Egypt).

Example Sentences

Alexander the Great, who had died in Babylon in 323 B.C., provided for Agathocles and the age’s other warlords what Ms. MacDonald terms “a new model for power in the ancient world.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026

Wilson recalled feeling like she and Musk were "soul mates" and he was her own "Alexander the Great" in the lead-up to their wedding.

From Salon • Mar. 12, 2025

The holiday's popularity has surged in modern times, but its origins date back to the turbulent centuries following the death of Alexander the Great, the ancient Macedonian leader who conquered the Persian Empire.

From National Geographic • Dec. 7, 2023

Portraits were up when I visited — Alexander the Great marching into Babylon; a sly-looking Louis XIV; and Madame Récamier, an 18th century socialite, on her deathbed.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 25, 2023

His most famous student, Alexander the Great, spread the doctrine as far east as India before Alexander’s untimely death in 323 BC.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife