priest-king

Noun

priest-king (plural priest-kings)

1. A sacred king, a monarch with prominent religious attributes.
   • The while this Priest-King sacrifiz'd To's clov'n-foot God in Bethel (self-devis'd).1606, G. de S. Du Bartas, translated by J. Sylvester, Deuine Weekes & Wks., ii. iv. iii. 169
   • The beginnings of organized war, first as a bickering between villages, and then as a more disciplined struggle between the priest-king and god of one city and those of another.1920, H.G. Wells, Outl. Hist., iii. xix. 124/2
2. A theocrat, a sovereign high priest.
   • Lower Egypt throws off the yoke of the priest-Kings of Thebes.1877, C.P. Tiele, translated by J.E. Carpenter, Outl. Hist. Relig., section 55
   • He was more like a priest-king, a combination of the Pope and a constitutional monarch.1995 September 21, N.Y. Times Review of Books, 32/1