president
Syllables: pre·si·dent/ˈpɹɛz.ɪ.dənt/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈpɹez.ɪ.dənt/
president 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. Also the obsolete form of precedent.
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Noun (1)
president (plural presidents)
- 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.
- 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...1965, Harry S. Truman, 0:20 from the start, in MP2002-401 Former President Truman Discusses "The Buck Stops Here", Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 595162
- Synonyms:
- POTUS
- 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.
- A person presiding over a meeting.
- 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,[…]1803, Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution
- A person presiding over a dinner or similar informal conversation.
- 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.1834 September 27, Anonymous, "West Indies: Spanish Town, Aug. 2, 1834", Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. XLVII (Vol. XI, 4th Ser.), p. 58
Adjective
president (not comparable)
- Occupying the first rank or chief place; having the highest authority; presiding.
- His angels president / In every province.1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC
Verb
president (third-person singular simple present presidents, present participle presidenting, simple past and past participle presidented)
- To act as president; to do presidential duties.
- Although in other ways you couldn’t imagine two more dissimilar men, [Scott Wiener's] ferociously active spirit resembles the Bolshevik antsiness of Donald Trump. The current president is attractive to some voters who might not agree with his values, or his language, or even his policies, but who...2026 January 11, Helen Lewis, “The YIMBY Hero Everyone Is Shouting At”, in The Atlantic
Noun (2) capitalized: President
President (plural Presidents)
- An honorific for the head of state of a republic.
- the President of the United States
- I was not just the President of Southern Americans or white Americans. I was the President of all Americans. I believed that a huge injustice had been perpetrated for hundreds of years on every black man, woman, and child in the United States. I did not think that our nation could endure much...1971, Lyndon Johnson, The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 39
Proper noun capitalized: President
President
- A surname.
Also used as
president is also the obsolete form of precedent.
president meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
president in Hindi
- the head of state of a republic
- राष्ट्रपति rāṣṭrapti, सदर sadar
- the primary leader of a corporation
- सदर sadar, अध्यक्ष adhyakṣ, अधिपति adhipti
- a person presiding over a meeting
- सभापति sabhāpti, अध्यक्ष adhyakṣ
president in Tamil
- the head of state of a republic
- ஜனாதிபதி jaṉātipati, குடியரசுத் தலைவர் kuṭiyaracut talaivar
president in Marathi
- the head of state of a republic
- राष्ट्राध्यक्ष rāṣṭrādhyakṣa, राष्ट्रपती rāṣṭraptī
- the primary leader of a corporation
- अध्यक्ष adhyakṣa
president in Urdu
- the head of state of a republic
- صَدْر sadr, صَدْرِ مَمْلَکَت sadr-i mamlakat
- the primary leader of a corporation
- صَدْر sadr, رَئِیس raīs
- a person presiding over a meeting
- مِیرِ مَجْلِس mīr-i majlis
More languagesFewer languages
- president in Bengali
- রাষ্ট্রপতি raśṭropoti
- president in Telugu
- అధ్యక్షుడు adhyakṣuḍu, దేశాధ్యక్షుడు dēśādhyakṣuḍu
- president in Malayalam
- രാഷ്ട്രപതി rāṣṭrapati, അദ്ധ്യക്ഷൻ addhyakṣaṉ
- president in Kannada
- ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಪತಿ rāṣṭrapati
- president in Punjabi
- ਰਾਸ਼ਟਰਪਤੀ rāśṭaraptī
- president in Gujarati
- રાષ્ટ્રપતિ rāṣṭrapti
- president in Odia
- ରାଷ୍ଟ୍ରପତି rāṣṭrapati
- president in Sinhala
- ජනාධිපති janādhipati
- president in Assamese
- ৰাষ্ট্ৰপতি rastropoti
- president in Nepali
- राष्ट्रपति rāṣṭrapati
- president in Pashto
- ولسمشر wolǝsmǝšǝr, اولسمشر ulǝsmǝšr, صدر sadǝr, ریيس rayis
- president in Tagalog
- pangulo, presidente
- president in Arabic
- رَئِيس raʔīs, رَئِيسَة raʔīsa
- president in Malay
- presiden
- president in Indonesian
- presiden
- president in Thai
- ประธานาธิบดี bprà-taa-naa-típ-bɔɔ-dii, ประธาน bprà-taan
- president in Vietnamese
- tổng thống, chủ tịch, chủ tịch hội đồng quản trị
- president in Myanmar
- သမ္မတ samma.ta., ဥက္ကဋ္ဌ ukkathta.
- Dhivehi
- ރައީސް raīs
Examples of president in a sentence
- Well, nobody else can make a decision but me because I was the President and the final decision comes to the President, you know.1965, Harry S. Truman, 0:20 from the start, in MP2002-401 Former President Truman Discusses "The Buck Stops Here", Harry S. Truman...
- […] to change the pattern of the last 220 years of only voting for a white male president, and elect a woman president […]2007, Benjamin Camins, Hillary Is the Best Choice, Page 144
- The current president is attractive to some voters who might not agree with his values, or his language, or even his policies, but who like that the president is, well, presidenting.2026 January 11, Helen Lewis, “The YIMBY Hero Everyone Is Shouting At”, in The Atlantic:
Synonyms of president
Forms of president
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | presidents |
| alternative abbreviation | pres. |
| alternative honorific | President |
| alternative honorific | Pres. |
| plural | Presidents |
| alternative form (archaic) | praesident |
| alternative form (archaic) | præsident |
| alternative form (archaic) | præs. |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | presidents |
| present participle | presidenting |
| past participle | presidented |
| past | presidented |
Origin of president
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'.
From president.
Words formed from president
- Missus President
- Mr. President
- Mrs. President
- Ms. President
- President-elect
- Presidentress
- copresident
- dead president
- ex-president
- Lady Presidentress
- Madam President
- Madame President
- minister-president
- Mister President
- municipal president
- President Carlos P. Garcia
- presidentess
- President Garcia
- presidenthood
- presidential
- presidentiary
- presidentless
- President Musk
- president pro tempore
- president pro tem
- presidentrix
- President Roxas
- President's Daily Briefing
- Presidents' Day
- presidentship
- president's professor
- vice president
- vice-president
- who died and made you president
Phrases with president
Words that rhyme with president
Questions about president
- What does president mean?
- President means 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.
- What is president in Hindi?
- President in Hindi is राष्ट्रपति (rāṣṭrapti), सदर (sadar), अध्यक्ष (adhyakṣ). See President meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use president in a sentence?
- Well, nobody else can make a decision but me because I was the President and the final decision comes to the President, you know.
- What part of speech is president?
- President can be a noun, an adjective, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce president?
- President is pronounced /ˈpɹɛz.ɪ.dənt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of president?
- The plural of president is presidents.
Words near president in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: president (page history and authors); President (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-the president.ogg, en-us-president.ogg.
Cite this entry: “president.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/president. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.