potentate

Definition

A powerful leader; a monarch; a ruler.

Etymology

From Middle English potentat, from Old French, from Late Latin potentātus (“rule, political power”), from Latin potēns (“powerful, strong”), the active present participle of possum (“I am able”).

Example Sentences

• "But Kings and mightieſt Potentates muſt die, For that's the end of humane miſerie."
• "She was now one of a group of oriental beauties who, in the second act of the comic opera, were paraded by the vizier before the new potentate as the treasures of his harem."
• "Life for ordinary barons in Outremer Jerusalem was probably better than for kings in Europe, where even potentates wore unlaundered wool and lived in bare-stone draughty keeps with rough furniture."

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