sultan

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sultan^¹

/ˈsʌltən/

Rhymes with -ʌltən

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Middle French sultan or Medieval Latin sultanus, from Ottoman Turkish سلطان (sultan), from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān, “strength, authority, ruler”). Compare Hebrew שִׁלְטוֹן (shiltón) and סוּלְטָן (sultán). Doublet of soldan.

noun sultans · salateen · sultân · sulṭān

countable, historical, uncountable The holder of a secular office, formally subordinate to, but de facto the power behind the throne of, the caliph.
countable, uncountable A hereditary ruler in various Muslim states (sultanate), varying from petty principalities (as in Yemen), often vassal of a greater ruler, to independent realms, such as Oman, Brunei, Morocco (until 1957) or an empire such as the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Here from the king's mountain view Here from the wild dream come true Feast like a sultan, I do On treasures and flesh never few
uncountable A variant of solitaire, played with two decks of cards.
countable, uncountable A breed of chicken originating in Turkey, kept primarily in gardens for ornamental reasons. See: sultan (chicken)

Sultan^²

proper noun

A surname.
A glacier in Antarctica
A village in Azerbaijan.
A coastal town in Libya.
An unincorporated community in Ontario.
A town, village and mountain range in Turkey.
A city and river in Washington.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: grand turk, saladin, muhammad, ibrahim, mahmoud, sudanese, sudan, mustapha, murad, emperor, king, authority, warrant, majesty, power, lick

Translations

Every language

noun office

Русский	султа́н sultán
العربية	سُلْطَان sulṭān

noun ruler

Español	sultán, soldán
한국어	술탄 sultan
日本語	スルタン surutan
中文	蘇丹 /苏丹 sūdān
हिन्दी	सुल्तान sultān, सुलतान sultān
Kiswahili	sultani
Português	sultão
Français	sultan, soudan
Deutsch	Sultan
Italiano	sultano
Ελληνικά	σουλτάνος soultános
Română	sultan
Русский	султа́н sultán
Tiếng Việt	vua, xun-tan
العربية	سُلْطَان sulṭān
עברית	סולטאן, סֻלְטָאן sultán

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{sultan_2026,
  title = {sultan},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sultan},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}