viceroy
Americannoun
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a person appointed to rule a country or province as the deputy of the sovereign.
the viceroy of India.
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a brightly marked American butterfly, Limenitis archippus, closely mimicking the monarch butterfly in coloration.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of viceroy
1515–25; < Middle French, equivalent to vice- vice- + roy king < Latin rēgem, accusative of rēx
Explanation
A viceroy is appointed by a king to be in charge of a country or province. When a country is ruled by a monarch — a king or queen — and controls colonies or provinces, the monarch can’t govern all those remote areas personally. That's where a viceroy comes in. The king or queen appoints a representative to rule over the colony or province. This viceroy is the most powerful person in this region, kind of like a king or president. The difference is that the viceroy has to answer to the monarch, his boss back in the mother country.
Vocabulary lists containing viceroy
Mythology
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South America - Middle School
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South America - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Soon he got permission to light up one of the city's most famous addresses - Raj Bhavan, the governor's mansion, once the residence of the British viceroy.
From BBC • Sep. 13, 2025
“And the viceroy Mike Davis tells me — since it doesn’t actually say consecutive — that, I don’t know, maybe we do it again in ‘28?
From Salon • Dec. 16, 2024
To reinforce his authority, he adopted the title khedive of Egypt, a designation above a viceroy and only one step below the reigning sultan.
From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022
In the foreground from left to right were Jawaharlal Nehru, then the vice president of the interim government of India; Lord Louis Mountbatten, the viceroy; and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim League.
From New York Times • Aug. 14, 2022
Accurately he was only regent of the Winds, viceroy of the gods.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
