president
/ˈpɹɛz.ɪ.dənt/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.45 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The head of state of a republic, sometimes also the head of government as well, particularly (US politics) the head of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States of America.
noun
A person presiding over a corporation, usually an executive overseeing daily operations under a chief executive officer but sometimes a separate position held by a CEO.
verb
To act as president; to do presidential duties.
noun
An honorific for the head of state of a republic.
Example Sentences
- "The vast majority of presidents have been male."
- "Well, nobody else can make a decision but me because I was the President and the final decision comes to the President, you know. I used to have a sign on my desk that said, "The Buck Stops Here." The buck stops at the president's desk when he's president of the United States, and he either makes the decisions or he lets them go by default, and you can't afford to do that when you're president."
- "[…] to change the pattern of the last 220 years of only voting for a white male president, and elect a woman president […]"
- "The call, which is the first known conversation between the presidents since Trump assumed office last month, came as as^([sic]) Trump makes clear to his advisers he wants to bring the Ukraine conflict to a swift end. […] The last US president to visit Russia was Barack Obama in 2013, when he attended a G20 summit."
- "The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President,[…]"
- "At another dinner, the president, on the removal of the cloth, rose and said... We will conduct weself in sich a manner, dat massa will neber be sorry for what him do dis night."
Etymology
From Old French president, from Latin praesidēns (“presiding over; president, leader”) (accusative: praesidentem). The Latin word is the substantivized present active participle of the verb praesideō (“preside over”). The verb is composed from prae (“before”) and sedeō (“sit”). The original meaning of the verb is 'to sit before' in the sense of presiding at a meeting. A secondary meaning of the verb is 'to command, to govern'. So praesidēns means 'the presiding one on a meeting' or 'governor, commander'.
Origin
- Source language: Old French
Word Breakdown
- Root: president, praesidēns
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɹɛz.ɪ.dənt/
- British English: /ˈpɹɛz.ɪ.dənt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
presidents (plural)
pres. (alternative, abbreviation)
Pres. (alternative, honorific)
praesident (alternative, archaic)
præsident (alternative, archaic)
præs. (alternative, archaic)
presidents (present, singular)
presidenting (participle, present)
presidented (participle, past)
presidented (past)