firman

American  

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

noun

firmans plural

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

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• firmans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of firman

1610–20; < Turkish ferman < Persian farmān

Example Sentences

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

Her passport is like a firman; she may travel where she pleases.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. V, October, 1850, Volume I. by

In April, 1845, he left Zanzibar, furnished with a firman from Sultan Said to the principal chiefs of the tribes of the interior, though in reality they enjoyed the most complete independence.

From The Progress of Ethnology An Account of Recent Archaeological, Philological and Geographical Researches in Various Parts of the Globe by Bartlett, John Russell

In a few days the firman or letter of the patriarch arrived, and I packed my things and got ready to start.

From Visits To Monasteries in the Levant by Curzon, Robert