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mukhtar

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mukhtar¹

  • /ˈmʊktɑː/ UK
  • [ˈmʊx-] UK
  • /ˈmʊktɑɹ/ US

Where it comes from

From North Levantine Arabic مختار (“village headman”), from substantive application of Arabic مُخْتَار (muḵtār, “chosen”), the passive participle of اِخْتَارَ (iḵtāra, “to elect, to choose”). Specific application with influence from various local languages including Ottoman Turkish مختار (muhtar, “village headman”) and Bengali মুখতার (mukhtar), Marathi मुख्तार (mukhtār), and Urdu مختار (muktār, “agent; lawyer”). Within Indian English, the application of mukhtar is influenced by a folk etymology derivation from Sanskrit मुक्ति (mukti, “liberation, becoming or setting free”). Doublet of muhtar.

noun mukhtars · muhtar · mooktar · mookhtar · muktar · muqtar

  1. A minor official—usually overseeing a village or town—in many Arab countries and (historical) in the Ottoman Empire and its successor states, including Turkey, Northern Cyprus, and formerly Albania. Mukhtar Khan, the ſoubadar, who was attached to Azim Shaw, and father-in-law to Bedar Bukht, hoping to impede his progreſs, ſunk all the boats in the Jumna, and placed guards at the neareſt fords.
  2. alternative, specifically Alternative spelling of muhtar: an elected official overseeing a village or neighborhood in modern Turkey.
  3. India, historical A person acting as an agent, particularly a lawyer. [W]e took leave, escorted to the gate by our two young friends, and thence by a nearer way through the ruins to our pinnace, by an elderly man, who said he was the Raja's "Muktar," or chamberlain, and whose obsequious courtesy, high reverence for his master's family, and numerous apologies for the u

Mukhtar²

  • /ˈmʊktɑː/ UK
  • [ˈmʊx-] UK
  • /ˈmʊktɑɹ/ US

Where it comes from

See mukhtar.

proper noun Mukhtars

  1. A surname from Arabic.

Translations

Every language

noun A minor official in various Arab and Turkish contexts

Françaismoukhtar
DeutschMuchtar
Ελληνικάμουχτάρης mouchtáris
Русскиймухта́р muxtár

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Cite this
MLA

"mukhtar." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mukhtar. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

mukhtar. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mukhtar

Chicago

"mukhtar." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mukhtar.

BibTeX
@misc{mukhtar_2026,
  title = {mukhtar},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mukhtar},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}