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firman

American  
[fur-muhn, fer-mahn] / ˈfɜr mən, fərˈmɑn /

noun

plural

firmans
  1. an edict or administrative order issued by or in the name of a Middle Eastern sovereign (formerly by an Ottoman Turkish sultan).


firman British  
/ fɜːˈmɑːn, ˈfɜː- /

noun

  1. an edict of an Oriental sovereign

  2. any authoritative grant of permission

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of firman

1610–20; < Turkish ferman < Persian farmān

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.

In 1873 a further firman placed the khedive in many respects in the position of an independent sovereign.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 1 "Edwardes" to "Ehrenbreitstein" by Various

During the first day’s travel among the hills, he found the firman most effective, the sheikhs lending him every aid to get on. 

From The Thistle and the Cedar of Lebanon by Risk Allah, Habeeb

I stayed at Yanina one day, but the Pasha could not see me to hear my account of the protection I had enjoyed from his firman.

From Visits To Monasteries in the Levant by Curzon, Robert

South of Siwa the frontier, according to the Turkish firman of 1841, bends eastward, approaching the cultivated Nile-land near Wadi Halfa, i.e. the southern frontier.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 1 "Edwardes" to "Ehrenbreitstein" by Various

The chaoush is a personage of great authority in certain things; he is a kind of living firman, before whom every one makes way.

From Visits To Monasteries in the Levant by Curzon, Robert