emir

UK/ɛˈmɪə(ɹ)/US/ɛˈmɪə(ɹ)/

nounC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #9,844 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: emirs

An emir is an Arab prince or commander. The Emir of Qatar, the emir's palace, appointed emir.

The Gulf states are ruled by them, and the United Arab Emirates is named from the plural. The word means commander, and admiral comes from the same Arabic root by way of a phrase meaning commander of the sea, which is how the l got in.

Definitions of emir

1nounemirAn Arab prince or commander.C1
“In the old story, the emir rode out of his palace to greet the tired travellers.”

emir is a ruler.

Where it comes from

Arabic amir means a commander or prince. Admiral comes from the same root.

Arabic
أَمِير — commander, prince
ota
امیر
Middle French
emir
English, today
emir

From Middle French emir, from ota امیر, from Arabic أَمِير (“commander, prince”). a doublet of amir and Amir and admiral and amira.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

emir in the wild

The emir of Qatar, officially the amir of the State of Qatar, is the monarch and head of state of Qatar.
Emir of Qatar
The emirs are members of the Al Thani family, whose origins are in the Banu Tamim, one of the largest tribes in the Arabian Peninsula.
Emir of Qatar
The emirs of Kuwait are members of the Al Sabah dynasty.
Emir of Kuwait
Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah became the emir of Kuwait on 16 December 2023, following the death of Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
Emir of Kuwait
Between 1783 and 1971, the Bahraini monarch held the title of hakim, and, from 1971 until 2002, the title of emir.
King of Bahrain

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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