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 US president also called on Americans to respect freedom of speech.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

Kruti Patel Goyal, now Etsy’s CEO, was on international assignment for a U.K. subsidiary, and traveled back to the U.S. in 2025 to become president of the company.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

We don’t mean to neener-neener the president at a delicate and dangerous moment.

From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2026

It comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet the US president at the White House on Tuesday.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

Eisenhower would then travel to the Soviet Union, making the first ever visit by a U.S. president.

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

The push for Saudi-Israeli normalisation has been an aspiration of successive US presidents.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

"She is an unorthodox choice, as all previous Hungarian presidents had political experience," Peter Kreko, head of the Budapest-based Political Capital think tank, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026

Modern vice presidents have leaned into the latter role, especially those who came out of Congress.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

The people who wrote the 14th Amendment wanted federal courts to go out and enforce that amendment against states or presidents or anyone else who would defy it.

From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026

He has played squash with two vice presidents and a secretary of defense.

From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson