magnate
Americannoun
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a person of great influence, importance, or standing in a particular enterprise, field of business, etc..
a railroad magnate.
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a person of eminence or distinction in any field.
literary magnates.
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a member of the former upper house in either the Polish or Hungarian parliament.
noun
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a person of power and rank in any sphere, esp in industry
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history a great nobleman
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(formerly) a member of the upper chamber in certain European parliaments, as in Hungary
Other Word Forms
- magnateship noun
Etymology
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
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.
The Victorian-era town with dramatic cliffs is on the windswept northeast coast and was developed as a resort by a Quaker mining and railroad magnate in 1861.
But I’ve tackled enough of it to inform you that, sadly, ignoring Charles Schwab or J. P. Morgan Chase will not make the ghosts of these greedy American business magnates go away.
From Salon
It has become a magnate not only for tourists, but also immigrants moving to destinations such as Medellín and Bogotá from the likes of the US, Canada and the UK.
From BBC
Hotel magnate Thomas Pritzker once replied to him saying “Please excuse my lack of typos.”
This week, the Greek magnate made one of the boldest plays of his 55-year tanker career: sending at least five ships through the Strait of Hormuz while war flared across the Middle East.
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.
