potentate

[ poht-n-teyt ]

/ ˈpoʊt nˌteɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR potentate ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

Nearby words

potemkin, potemkin village, potence, potency, potent, potentate, potential, potential cautery, potential difference, potential divider, potential energy

Origin of potentate

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for potentate

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
The injustice of that Potentate will not permit all to perish.
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume I of II)|Henry Osborn Taylor
The potentate of dry goods was drawing in his winnings, as Shirley leaned over Holloway's shoulder to dictate the missive.
The Voice on the Wire|Eustace Hale Ball
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

He would enter the College of Nobles, then he would pass to the Nunciature, and in a short while he would be a potentate.
Csar or Nothing|Po Baroja Baroja
Wachique was set in front of her, to receive tante-gra'mère when the potentate's chrysalid should be lowered.
Old Kaskaskia|Mary Hartwell Catherwood

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

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of potentate

Examples from the Web for potentate

British Dictionary definitions for potentate

potentate

noun

Word Origin for potentate