shogun
or shō·gun
[ shoh-guh n, -guhn ]
/ ˈʃoʊ gən, -gʌn /
noun Japanese History.
the title applied to the chief military commanders from about the 8th century a.d. to the end of the 12th century, then applied to the hereditary officials who governed Japan, with the emperor as nominal ruler, until 1868, when the shogunate was terminated and the ruling power was returned to the emperor.
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Nearby words
shoestring tackle, shoetree, shofar, shog, shogi, shogun, shogun bond, shogunate, shoguns, shohet, shoji
Origin of shogun
1605–15; < Japanese shōgun, earlier shaũgun < Middle Chinese, equivalent, to Chinese jiāngjūn literally, lead the army
Related forms
sho·gun·al, adjectiveDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for shogun
British Dictionary definitions for shogun
shogun
/ (ˈʃəʊˌɡuːn) /
noun Japanese history
(from 794 ad) a chief military commander
(from about 1192 to 1867) any of a line of hereditary military dictators who relegated the emperors to a position of purely theoretical supremacy
Derived Forms
shogunal, adjectiveWord Origin for shogun
C17: from Japanese, from Chinese chiang chün general, from chiang to lead + chün army
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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