tsar
nounUK /(t)sɑː/ · US /(t)sɑɹ/
Etymology Borrowed from Russian царь (carʹ), from Old East Slavic цьсарь (cĭsarĭ), from Proto-Slavic *cěsařь, from a Germanic language, from Proto-Germanic *kaisaraz, from Latin Caesar. Doublet of Caesar and Kaiser. The spelling tsar began to replace the older czar in the nineteenth century. Compare Byzantine Greek Τζαῖσαρ (Tzaîsar).
1
Historical An emperor of Russia (1547 to 1917) and of some South Slavic states.
- [W]hy, in the name of common sense, should the English call the Czar (tsar) of Russia razc?1832 August 1, W. Barnes, “On the Origin of Language”, in Gentleman's Magazine, London, page 129:
- I vuz never beink too krazy about any of dose tsari.1996 May 19, Jim Collier, “King Arthur Discoveries”, in soc.history.medieval (Usenet), archived from the original on 07 Jun 2025:
2 more examples
- >There IS a difference between the Russians as a group of people and Soviet communism! Ha ha ha! Know any other good ones? First their^([sic]) were the plain old tsari, then the red tsari (Stalin, etc) and know Putin is the 'new look' tsar. But the same beastly imperialist bullying goes on.2004 April 5, «Pas de deux», “Yes Virginia (Erin), there are bad people in the world, and formewr KGB head Valdimir Putin is one of them....”, in soc.culture.baltics (Usenet), archived from the original on 07 Jun 2025:
- At that time Mongol princes faced the challenge of choosing from three options: either combine all their forces and fight against the Manchus, which were stronger and had taken over all of China at that time, or approach the Russian Tsari as did the Buryat and Khalmig Mongol princedoms or to follow the way of Inner Mongolia and accept relative autonomy given by the Manchu.2013, Kherlen Badarch, “Post-imperial Mongolia (1368–1691)”, in Integrating New Values into Mongolian Public Management (KWI-Gutachten; 8), Universitätsverlag Potsdam [Potsdam University Press], →ISBN, →ISSN, chapter 4 (Mongolian traditional legacy), section 4 (Mongolian statehood historic tradition), page 84:
2
Figuratively A person with great power; an autocrat.
- Chin Chien-shih, an old poor peasant of Korean nationality, said: "The wolfish ambition of the new tsars is exactly the same as that of the old tsars. The Soviet revisionist renegade clique is struggling desperately in the hope of saving itself from doom, but this will only bring on its destruction more quickly."1969 March 14 [1969 March 13], “Report from Border Areas”, in Daily Report: Foreign Radio Broadcasts, number 50, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, sourced from Peking NCNA International Service, →OCLC, page A 6:
- Derived terms
- czarocracy, czarocrat, czarocratic, if only the tsar knew, tsarate, tsardom, czardom, tsarian, tsaric, tsaricide, tsarina, czarina, tsarish, tsarism, czarism, tsarist, czarist, tsarlike, tsarship