president

American  

[prez-i-duhnt] / ˈprɛz ɪ dənt /

noun

• presidents
  plural

1. the highest executive officer of a modern republic, as the chief executive of the United States.

   sworn in as the 56th president of Mexico.

2. an officer appointed or elected to preside over an organized body of persons.

3. the chief officer of a college, university, society, corporation, etc.

4. a person who presides.

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president British  

/ ˈprɛzɪdənt, ˌprɛzɪˈdɛnʃəl /

noun

1. (often capital) the chief executive or head of state of a republic, esp of the US

2. (in the US) the chief executive officer of a company, corporation, etc

3. a person who presides over an assembly, meeting, etc

4. the chief executive officer of certain establishments of higher education

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• presidentship
  noun
• presidential
  adjective
• presidentially
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• presidents
  plural

Etymology

Origin of president

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Latin praesident- (stem of praesidēns ), noun use of present participle of praesidēre “to preside over, sit in front of”; see preside, -ent

Explanation

The president is the person officially in charge — whether it’s of a republic, a company, a college, or a fan club. This is a word for a leader, like the President of the United States or the president of the National Football League Players' Union. Many organizations have presidents, and they're usually elected by members of that group. When it’s followed by a name, the title president gets a capital p, as in President Obama. Whether with a P or p, the job of a president is to preside in a formal or official capacity.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

president presidents

The drive towards younger players comes after Roberto Olabe replaced Monchi last September as president of football operations with a long-to-mid term directive on transfers.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Arif Alvi, the country's former president and a PTI member, also confirmed Khan's transfer on X, adding that the whole country "is happy and dancing with joy".

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

He quickly teased the possibility of hosting the president for an interview.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

The 55-year-old — who was president and general manager of Telemundo 31, Telemundo 49 and Telemundo Ft.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

The president really had planned to give campaign speeches that day—until his brother called early that morning.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

At the meeting, regional Fed presidents Beth Hammack, Lorie Logan and Neel Kashkari all favored raising interest rates immediately.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Two school board presidents, one conservative and one liberal, will face each other in California’s November runoff for state schools superintendent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

Two of America’s most idealistic presidents, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, followed an era of Johnsonian-Nixonian cynicism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Their last two presidents, Jimmy Carter and Lyndon Johnson, had left office under the clouds of the Iran hostage crisis, in the case of the former, and Vietnam with the latter.

From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026

Although Roosevelt was one of the most popular presidents to ever hold office, the Republican Party gave their support to Taft, the current president.

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple