Potentate
WordNet
noun
(1) A ruler who is unconstrained by law
WiktionaryText
Synonyms
From potentat, from , from potentātus (meaning "rule" or "political power") which derives from potēns (meaning "powerful" or "strong"), a present participle of posse (meaning "to be able").
Noun
- A powerful leader; a monarch; a ruler
- Shakespeare, "Henry VI, Part I", 1592
- But kings and mightiest potentates must die, For that's the end of human misery.
- Theodore Dreiser, "Sister Carrie", 1900
- 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.
- Shakespeare, "Henry VI, Part I", 1592