magnate
[mag-neyt, -nit]
- a person of great influence, importance, or standing in a particular enterprise, field of business, etc.: a railroad magnate.
- a person of eminence or distinction in any field: literary magnates.
- a member of the former upper house in either the Polish or Hungarian parliament.
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Origin of magnate
1400–50; back formation from Middle English magnates (plural) < Late Latin magnātēs leading people, equivalent to Latin magn(us) magn- + -ātēs, plural of -ās noun suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for magnate
Contemporary Examples
He gained infamy (and a Lifetime movie) for pretending to be a magnate's heir.
Fake Rockefeller, Real Murder: The Case of Christian Karl GerhartsreiterChristine Pelisek
March 19, 2013
In 2006, the Left Front government invited the magnate Ratan Tata to set up his Nano factory at Singur.
What brought Stephanie Seymour and her magnate husband, Peter Brant, back together after an ugly divorce battle?
Historical Examples
Then, as a new thought came to the magnate, he spoke with a trace of anxiety.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
Then he dropped to a seat on the couch, and proceeded to make his confidences to the magnate.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
The magnate, red-faced and angry, returned with him to the station.
The Depot MasterJoseph C. Lincoln
The boy grinned bashfully and opined the magnate just mentioned was "all right."
ShavingsJoseph C. Lincoln
He was dressed like a magnate who was also a person of taste.
The Market-PlaceHarold Frederic
magnate
- a person of power and rank in any sphere, esp in industry
- history a great nobleman
- (formerly) a member of the upper chamber in certain European parliaments, as in Hungary
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Word Origin
C15: back formation from earlier magnates from Late Latin: great men, plural of magnās, from Latin magnus great
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
Word Origin and History for magnate
n.
mid-15c., "great man, noble, man of wealth," from Late Latin magnates, plural of magnas "great person, nobleman," from Latin magnus "great, large, big" (of size), "abundant" (of quantity), "great, considerable" (of value), "strong, powerful" (of force); of persons, "elder, aged," also, figuratively, "great, mighty, grand, important," from PIE *mag-no-, from root *meg- "great" (cf. Sanskrit maha-, mahat- "great;" Greek megas, fem. megale "great, large;" Gothic mikils, Old English micel "great, big, many;" see mickle).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper