czar

See also: Czar

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin Caesarbor.

Proto-Germanic *kaisarazder.

Proto-Slavic *cěsařь

Old East Slavic цѣсарь (cěsarĭ)

Old East Slavic цьсарь (cĭsarĭ)

Russian царь (carʹ)bor.

English czar

See tsar. The spelling czar, the older spelling in English, comes from the book Notes on Muscovite Affairs (1549) by Sigismund von Herberstein. It was supplanted by the alternative tsar in the 19th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zɑː(ɹ)/, /t͡sɑː(ɹ)/, /t͡ʃɑːɹ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

Noun

czar (plural czars)

1. Alternative spelling of tsar (especially common in American English)
   • 1555, Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, translated by Richard Eden, The decades of the newe worlde or west India‎^[1], London: William Powell, page 290:

     Note therfore that Czar in the Ruthens tounge signifieth a kynge, wheras in the language of the Slauons, Pollons, Bohemes, and other, the same woorde Czar, signifieth Cesar by whiche name Themperours haue byn commonly cauled.

   • 2016 December 12, Editorial Team, “Editorial: Trump, Putin and the risks of a reset”, in Chicago Tribune‎^[2], archived from the original on 13 December 2016:

     To understand Russia, you have to dive deep into its history — boyars and czars, Pushkin and Pasternak, Stalin and Stalingrad.

2. (informal, US politics, Philippine politics) An appointed official tasked to regulate or oversee a specific area.

   drug czar

   cyberczar

   • 2020 May 8, Jayne O'Donnell, “'Deaths of despair': Coronavirus pandemic could push suicide, drug deaths as high as 150k, study says”, in USA Today‎^[3], archived from the original on 9 May 2020:

     The federal mental health czar is calling for more money to expand services to help people suffering amid the social isolation imposed by the coronavirus pandemic […]

Derived terms

• border czar
• czarate
• czardom
• czaric
• czarish
• czarist
• czarlike
• czarocracy
• czarocrat
• czarocratic
• czarship
• if only the czar knew

Anagrams

• Racz, Z-car, z car

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian царь (carʹ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tsaʁ/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

czar m (plural czars)

1. archaic spelling of tsar

Further reading

• “czar”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʂar/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ar
• Syllabification: czar

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *čarъ.

Alternative forms

• car (Lasovia)

Noun

czar m inan

1. spell (magic)

   Synonyms: zaklęcie, urok

2. allure, charm (quality of inspiring delight or admiration)

   Synonym: urok

3. (in the plural) sorcery (magical power)

   Synonym: magia

Declension

Declension of czar

	singular	plural
nominative	czar	czary
genitive	czaru	czarów
dative	czarowi	czarom
accusative	czar	czary
instrumental	czarem	czarami
locative	czarze	czarach
vocative	czarze	czary

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

czar f

1. genitive plural of czara

Further reading

• czar in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• czar in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Wanda Decyk-Zięba, editor (2018-2022), “czar”, in Dydaktyczny Słownik Etymologiczno-historyczny Języka Polskiego [A Didactic, Historical, Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), →ISBN

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• tsar, tzar
• csar (rare)

Etymology

Borrowed from French czar.

Doublet of César and kaiser.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kiˈzaʁ/ [kiˈzah], /ˈkzaʁ/ [ˈkzah], /ˈzaʁ/ [ˈzah]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kiˈzaʁ/ [kiˈzah], /ˈkzaʁ/ [ˈkzah], /ˈzaʁ/ [ˈzah]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /kiˈzaɾ/, /ˈkzaɾ/, /ˈzaɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /kiˈzaʁ/ [kiˈzaχ], /ˈkzaʁ/ [ˈkzaχ], /ˈzaʁ/ [ˈzaχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkzaɻ/, /kiˈzaɻ/, /ˈzaɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkzaɾ/, /ˈzaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkzaɾ/, /ˈzaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkza.ɾi/, /ˈza.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: czar

Noun

czar m (plural czares, feminine czarina, feminine plural czarinas)

1. tsar (emperor of Russia)

Further reading

• “czar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “czar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “czar”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “czar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025