vizier

American  

[vi-zeer, viz-yer] / vɪˈzɪər, ˈvɪz yər /

Or vizir

noun

1. (formerly) a high official in certain Muslim countries and caliphates, especially a minister of state.

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vizier British  

/ vɪˈzɪə /

noun

1. a high official in certain Muslim countries, esp in the former Ottoman Empire. Viziers served in various capacities, such as that of provincial governor or chief minister to the sultan

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Other Word Forms

• vizierate noun
• vizierial adjective
• viziership noun

Etymology

Origin of vizier

1555–65; < Turkish vezīr < Arabic wazīr

Example Sentences

For centuries Albanians served as grand viziers and frontier pashas inside the Ottoman Empire.

From Washington Post

This vizier was a cultured gentleman, a man of delicate sensibilities — he must have been, must he not, to have raised such a paragon of a daughter as Scheherazade?

From New York Times

But Europeans quickly transformed the "shah" to a king, the "vizier" to the queen, the "elephants" to bishops, the "horses" to knights, the "chariots" to castles and the "foot soldiers" to pawns.

From Salon

A hero uses the magic sword of Damascus to free a Baghdad princess from a grand vizier and his son.

From Los Angeles Times

Fate follows a beggar king, his daughter, a dancer, and the caliph and grand vizier of Baghdad.

From Los Angeles Times