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potentate

[poht-n-teyt]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR potentate ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

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

Related Words for potentate

despot, king, majesty, ruler, queen, autocrat, sovereign, empress, chief, royalty, dictator, chieftain, emperor, prince, leader, princess

Examples from the Web for potentate

Contemporary Examples of 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

Historical Examples of potentate

I don't know whether that potentate ever communicated with me.
The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 25, January 1893
Various
The potentate glanced at the pianist, and then dropped his heavy eyelids.
Melomaniacs
James Huneker
They know no gratitude, and they would not cringe to the greatest Christian potentate.
The Philippine Islands
John Foreman
The potentate saw that flash of glory, and put himself "on-side."
Ambrotox and Limping Dick
Oliver Fleming
As a matter of fact, the newcomer did not look in the least like an Eastern potentate.
The Slave of Silence
Fred M. White

British Dictionary definitions for potentate

potentate

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

Word Origin and History for potentate

n.

c.1400, from Old French potentat and directly from Late Latin potentatus "a ruler," also "political power," from Latin potentatus "might, power, rule, dominion," from potentem (nominative potens) "powerful" (see potent).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper