Etymology
From French sultan, from Ottoman Turkish سلطان or sultan, from Arabic سُلْطَان or sulṭān (strength, authority, ruler). Compare Hebrew שִׁלְטוֹן or shiltón and Hebrew סוּלְטָן or sultán.
Noun
sultan (countable and uncountable, plural sultans)
- (historical) The holder of a secular office, formally subordinate to, but de facto the power behind the throne of, the caliph.
- 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 1956), or an empire such as the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
- (card games) A variant of solitaire, played with two decks of cards.
- A breed of chicken originating in Turkey, kept primarily in gardens for ornamental reasons.
Derived terms
- sultana
- sultanate
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors copied and adjusted this Wiktionary entry in accordance with NWE standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit for this article is due to both New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions at Wiktionary is accessible to researchers here:
