potentate

[ poht-n-teyt ]

/ ˈpoʊt nˌteɪt /

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noun

a person who possesses great power, as a sovereign, monarch, or ruler.

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Origin of potentate

1350–1400; Middle English <Late Latin potentātus potentate, Latin: power, dominion. See potent¹, -ate³

Words nearby potentate

Potëmkin, Potemkin village, potence, potency, potent, potentate, potential, potential difference, potential divider, potential energy, potential gradient

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use potentate in a sentence

Last week, the Potentate of Puzzles challenged five lucky citizens with a test.
Can You (Not) Flip Your Lid?|Zach Wissner-Gross|December 18, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Venezuela's oil potentate can't leave office quickly enough, but it might be a while.
Here's How a Real Socialist Holds Power|Justin Green|October 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST
He remains the unelected potentate of a draconian theocratic dictatorship.
Delayed Win for Saudi Women|David Keyes|September 26, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Money became a potentate whose power is greater even than that of the president, controlling and outlasting any political fortune.
Money Rules in the New D.C.|Jane Hitchcock|April 8, 2009|DAILY BEAST

This again was used equally to denote a potentate of either sex, until at last we find the interjection dame!
A Cursory History of Swearing|Julian Sharman
What can be more eloquent than his defence of Benjamin, and his appeal to what seemed to him to be an Egyptian potentate!
Beacon Lights of History, Volume II|John Lord
As soon as the parties were brought in, the judicial potentate eyed them sternly for some time.
Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks|Bracebridge Hemyng
The American influence has been felt to such an extent that King Jazz is a universal potentate.
My Wonderful Visit|Charlie Chaplin
The great arch-ruler, potentate of hell, Tumbles when Bacon bids him, or his fiends Bow to the force of his pentageron.
Witch, Warlock, and Magician|William Henry Davenport Adams

British Dictionary definitions for potentate

potentate

/ (ˈpəʊtənˌteɪt) /

noun

a person who possesses great power or authority, esp a ruler or monarch

Word Origin for potentate

C14: from Late Latin potentātus ruler, from Latin: rule, command, from potens powerful, from posse to be able

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

potentate

Origin of potentate

Words nearby potentate

Words related to potentate

How to use potentate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for potentate

Word Origin for potentate