archon
Americannoun
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a higher magistrate in ancient Athens.
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any ruler.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of archon
1650–60; < Greek árchōn magistrate, ruler, noun use of present participle of árchein to be first, rule; see archi-
Explanation
An archon is a leader. It could refer to the President of the United States, a top personality of the fashion world, or a really important person in dog training circles. This term, while often used in a general, poetic sense, was also a title in Ancient Greece. It was often used for a chief magistrate, or a person who enforces the law. Archon comes from a Greek word meaning "to be first." The arch- part of this root word is shared with monarch, another type of leader, and with the arch- in words like archbishop, a head bishop.
Vocabulary lists containing archon
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
An estimated 2,000,000 Americans will visit Europe this year, and an impressive number of them will follow a trail carefully blazed in advance by Temple Hornaday Fielding, at 55 the archon of U.S. guidebook writers.
From Time Magazine Archive
And Khomeini is the archon of the oilfields Khuzestan is a land of extreme contrasts.
From Time Magazine Archive
The mullah has become the archon of the oilfields.
From Time Magazine Archive
This was effected by Solon, the Athenian sage and law-giver—himself of the race of Codrus, whom the Athenians chose as archon, with full power to make new laws.
From Ancient States and Empires by Lord, John
Thus the chief archon, the official guardian of orphans and The polemarch.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" by Various
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.
