Potentate

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈpəʊ.tÉ™n.teɪt/
• US IPA: /ˈpoÊŠ.tÉ™n.teɪt/

Origin

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").

Full definition of potentate

Noun

1. A powerful leader; a monarch; a ruler
• 1592, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part I, act iii, scene 2But Kings and mightieÅ¿t Potentates muÅ¿t die,
  For that's the end of humane miſerie.
• 1900, Theodore Dreiser, "Sister Carrie"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.

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