vizier

or vi·zir

[ vi-zeer, viz-yer ]

noun
  1. (formerly) a high official in certain Muslim countries and caliphates, especially a minister of state.: Compare grand vizier.

Origin of vizier

1
1555–65; <Turkish vezīr<Arabic wazīr

Other words from vizier

  • vi·zier·ate [vi-zeer-it, -eyt, viz-yer-it, -yuh-reyt], /vɪˈzɪər ɪt, -eɪt, ˈvɪz yər ɪt, -yəˌreɪt/, vi·zier·ship, noun
  • vi·zier·i·al, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use vizier in a sentence

  • Then he said to his viziers: 'What say ye respecting the affair of Solomon?

  • When he saw it he commanded his viziers, saying: ‘Go and seek the owner of this slipper, for I will wed none but her.’

  • The king asked that his viziers might be restored to life, and they all went away with rich presents.

  • She immediately called her viziers together, and they wrote out the usual contract.

  • The thousand and one stories are being told every day by hundreds of thousands of viziers' daughters to their respective sultans.

    Roads of Destiny | O. Henry

British Dictionary definitions for vizier

vizier

/ (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

Origin of vizier

1
C16: from Turkish vezīr, from Arabic wazīr porter, from wazara to bear a burden

Derived forms of vizier

  • vizierial or vizirial, adjective
  • viziership, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012