mikado

[mi-kah-doh]

noun

plural

mikados 

1. (sometimes initial capital letter),  a title of the emperor of Japan.

2. (initial capital letter, italics),  an operetta (1885) by Sir William S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan.

3. (initial capital letter),  a steam locomotive having a two-wheeled front truck, eight driving wheels, and a two-wheeled rear truck.

mikado

/ mɪˈkɑːdəʊ /

noun

1. archaic,  (often capital) the Japanese emperor Compare tenno

Word History and Origins

Origin of mikado¹

1720–30; < Japanese, equivalent to mi- exalted + kado gate, door (of the imperial palace)

Word History and Origins

Origin of mikado¹

C18: from Japanese, from mi- honourable + kado gate

Example Sentences

“I’ve been coming here since I was a kid,” said Laura Hureski, stretching out on a bench on the museum lawn in her flowing ivory mikado wedding gown one afternoon in August.

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“The shells intended to make the world safe for democracy when fired through the cannon of the czar and the mikado,” A.J.

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Other than preserving the word “mikado,” which it uses as a synonym for “ruler,” this production avoids any reference to Japan.

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Here, a cubist silk and cotton mikado blazer and tuxedo short would be fun even without the red waistband and bright blue collar.

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Kami, k�′mi, n. a Japanese term for a lord, for any of the national gods, demi-gods, or deified heroes, or any of their supposed descendants, as the mikados and the imperial family.

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Related Words

• czar 
• emperor 
• king 
• monarch 
• shah 
• sultan