Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The title of the emperor of Russia. See czar.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun historical An emperor of Russia (before 1917) and of some South Slavic kingdoms.
  • noun figuratively A person with great power; an autocrat.
  • noun informal, politics, US An appointed official tasked to regulate or oversee a specific area.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a male monarch or emperor (especially of Russia prior to 1917)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Russian царь (car’), from Old East Slavic цьсарь (cĭsarĭ), from Old Church Slavonic цѣсарь (cěsarĭ), from Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌰𐍂 (kaisar, "emperor"), believed to come from Latin Caesar.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word tsar.

Examples

    Sorry, no example sentences found.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Russian emperor.

    March 3, 2007

  • Derived, as is kaiser, from Cæsar—first Caius Julius, Roman emperors thereafter being Cæsars, and figuratively, later, any emperor also.

    (This English spelling became standard after being chosen by the Times newspaper at the end of the nineteenth century.)

    December 16, 2007

  • 'The Russian revolution simmered for years and suddenly erupted when the serfs finally realised that the Czar and the Tsar were the same person.' — Woody Allen

    December 17, 2007

  • Haha! I scratched my head about those two totally different spellings for years! :-P

    December 18, 2007