monarch
/ˈmɒnək
/noun
1A sovereign head of state, especially a king, queen, or emperor: the reigning monarch this followed an attempt by the deposed monarch to regain his throne...
- Since then I have described the Queen as our monarch or sovereign, and the governor-general as our head of state.
- The English and French monarchs were kings and queens of the land and not the people.
- The British annexed Burma in 1886 during the reign of its last monarch - King Thibaw - who was taken to Calcutta, where he died in 1916.
Synonyms
sovereign, ruler, Crown, crowned head, potentate;
king, queen, emperor, empress, prince, princess, tsar
2 (also monarch butterfly) A large migratory orange and black butterfly that occurs mainly in North America. The caterpillar feeds on milkweed, using the toxins in the plant to render both itself and the adult unpalatable to predators. Also called milkweed.
- Danaus plexippus, subfamily Danainae, family Nymphalidae.
- During its final growth stage, the constantly feeding larva of a monarch butterfly consumes an amazing 2.25 times its own weight in milkweed per day.
- Some insects, like the monarch butterfly, migrate to warmer climes in winter.
3 (also monarch flycatcher) A flycatcher found in Africa, Asia, and Australasia, typically having boldly marked or colourful plumage.
- Family Monarchidae (the monarch flycatcher family): many genera and numerous species.
Derivatives
monarchal
/ adjective ...- This ideologically sets the country apart from other feudal, traditional, theocratic, primordial or monarchal systems of government.
- He contended that every page of Mitford's History had falsehoods, all stemming from his anti-democratic passion and his excessive regard for monarchal and aristocratic power.
- The classic seventeenth-century patriarchalism that linked monarchal and paternal creative power would not endure.
monarchial
- The system provides for the perpetration of a monarchial power structure that should have been abandoned with our first revolution 228 years ago.
- The earliest block, found in the monarchial period, appears in fact to be the most recent.
- Only three or four attained ministerial posts with some influence on national policies in an increasingly autocratic monarchial regime.
monarchic
/ adjective ...- Also, he was uncomfortable with formality, dignity or the symbolic and monarchic aspects of the Presidency.
- The sceptre is believed to be a symbol for a monarchic or theocratic order, or a combination of the two.
- For several centuries until the end of monarchic historical Armenia in 1045 and Cilicia in 1375, there were aristocratic noble houses with their respective court-related responsibilities.
Origin
Late Middle English: from late Latin monarcha, from Greek monarkhēs, from monos 'alone' + arkhein 'to rule'.
The word monarch comes via late Latin from Greek monarkhēs, from monos ‘alone’ and arkhein ‘to rule’. Monos also lies behind monastery (Late Middle English) which comes from monazein ‘to live alone’, while monk (Old English) comes from monakos ‘solitary’.