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.

---

president British  

/ ˈprɛzɪdənt /

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

---

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 president, who turns 81 next week, will make his first campaign visit to Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach on Saturday before plunging into the crowds on Sao Paulo's Avenida Paulista.

From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026

“We’ve got confidence in the plans, both from an ops and a security standpoint,” said NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly, who oversees its international arm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026

Fifa president Gianni Infantino insists he has the backing of the "vast, vast majority" of world football, as he laughed off questions about whether he had considered resigning over the World Cup sell-off debacle.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

He has no plan to sell the Dodgers, team president Stan Kasten has said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026

The president would give his orders to the Pentagon by phone.

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

Greg Steinmetz, a former reporter at this newspaper, tells the story of that shocking turn in “The President and the Oligarch,” a lively history of Mellon’s consequential interactions with four presidents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026

The Russian, Chinese and US presidents, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, could potentially meet at an upcoming Asia-Pacific summit in China, the Kremlin said on Monday.

From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026

The party of incumbent presidents regularly loses seats in midterm elections, and it is common for presidents to shake up their staffs halfway through a term.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

The presidents of Romania and Bulgaria are due to discuss today whether Article 4 of the Nato treaty should be invoked.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Not so much book smart, even though he did know all forty-eight states and capitals and all the presidents from Washington to Roosevelt.

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---