potentate

English

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potentate

/ˈpəʊ.tən.teɪt/ UK
/ˈpoʊ.tən.teɪt/ US

Where it comes from

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 (“to be able”).

noun potentates

A powerful leader; a monarch; a ruler. But Kings and mightieſt Potentates muſt die, For that's the end of humane miſerie.
A powerful polity or institution.
derogatory A self-important person.
humorous Someone acting in an important role. "Those foreigners," thought the female potentate of the Sun, "won't know what to order; but I'll show them what a good supper is."

adjective more potentate · most potentate

obsolete Regnant, powerful, dominant.

Translations

Every language

noun a powerful leader

Español	potentado, podestá, líder máximo, capo
Português	potentado, soberano
Français	potentat, podestat
Deutsch	Potentat, Potentatin
Italiano	podestà, condottiere
Română	potentat
Русский	властели́н vlastelín

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{potentate_2026,
  title = {potentate},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/potentate},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}