▪ I. sultan, n.
(ˈsʌltən)
Also 6 soltane, 6–7 soltan, sultane, 7 soultan, sultain(e, sulthan, 8–9 sultaun.
[a. F. sultan (from 16th c.) or ad. med.L. sultānus, ad. Arab. sulṭān king, sovereign, queen, power, dominion; cf. med.Gr. σουλτάνος, Pr., Sp. sultan, It. sultano, Pg. sultão. See also the doublet soldan.]
1. The sovereign or chief ruler of a Muslim country; spec. (Hist.) the sovereign of Turkey. Also formerly, a prince or king's son, a high officer.
| 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 63 marg., The Soltane of Alcayr in Egypte. Ibid. 329 Amonge the Tartars,..Chan, signifieth a kynge, Soltan, the soonne of a kynge. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. i. 26 A Persian Prince That won three fields of Sultan Solyman. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 66 Vpon that side the Sultan of the Turkes incamped. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 36 Most of [the Mogul of Surat's] Sultans and Captaines are by birth Persians. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 395 Where The Persian in Ecbatan sate,..or the Sultan in Bizance. 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3942/1 Sultan Mahomet, eldest Son of the Grand Signior. 1765 Blackstone Comm. i. vii. 260 In Turkey, where every thing is centered in the sultan or his ministers. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India I. 365 Among these chiefs, one of the most powerful was the Sultan of Yodhyakarta. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 29 Feb. 1/2 The Sultan of Turkey is the best hated man throughout his dominions. |
b. Taken as a type of magnificence; also
attrib.| 1864 Allingham Lawrence Bloomfield xii. 648 The billowy hills, cloud-shadow'd, roll'd Like spotted sultan-serpent, fold on fold. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 16 Dec. 12/1 Tennyson..said he considered Norfolk turkeys the very Sultans of their breed. |
c. Used with allusion to an Eastern ruler's harem; also
attrib.| 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 229 The sultan of the dunghill with his disciplined harem. 1887 Bowen Virg. Ecl. vii. 7 Our sultan goat [L. vir gregis ipse caper]. |
2. An absolute ruler;
gen. a despot, tyrant.
| 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche viii. ccxii, The rouzéd Grot its awful Sultan [sc. Lucifer] knew. 1662 Winstanley Loyal Martyrol. (1665) 38 Their Sultan Cromwell. 1719 Young Revenge ii. i, Love reigns a sultan with unrival'd sway. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xx, He would be generous-minded, Sultan as he was, and raise up this kneeling Esther. 1855 Tennyson Maud i. xx. i, The Sultan, as we name him. |
3. (
orig. † sultan('s) flower.) Either of two species of sweet-scented annuals, brought originally from the East, usually distinguished as the
purple or white sweet sultan,
Centaurea (
Amberboa)
moschata, and the
yellow (sweet) sultan,
C. (
A.)
suaveolens.
| 1629 Parkinson Parad. 327 Cyanus floridus Turcicus. The Sultans flower. 1688 Holme Armoury ii. iv. 64/2 The Sultans flower is purple, and the Thrume almost white. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., App., Sultan-flower, a name sometimes used for the cyanus, or blue bottle. |
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. June 69 Flowers, in Prime, or yet lasting,..Sultans. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Cyanus, The yellow sweet Sultan. 1786 Abercrombie Gard. Assist. 116 Many different sorts [of annuals]: such as..sweet sultan. 1871 Morris in Mackail Life (1899) I. 238 Those sweet sultans are run very much to leaf. |
4. A small white-crested species of domestic fowl, originally brought from Turkey. Also
attrib.| 1855 Poultry Chron. II. 526 Sultan Cockerel and Two Pullets, quite new, {pstlg}5. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 645/2. |
5. In full
sultan hen, etc. (F.
poule sultane):
= sultana 6.
| 1882 ‘Ouida’ Maremma I. 149 The innumerable pools and streams..which are..known only to the sultan-hen and the wild duck. 1884 Coues N. Amer. Birds 675 Ionornis, Sultan Gallinules. |
6. attrib. and
Comb., as
sultan-like adj. and
adv.;
sultan-bird (see
quot.);
sultan pink,
red, a rich dull pink, red;
† sultan('s) flower (see 3). (See also senses above.)
| 1899 A. H. Evans Birds 539 Parus may be glossy greenish-black and yellow, as in the *Sultan-bird (P. sultaneus). |
| 1697 H. St. John To Dryden in D.'s Virg., So, *Sultan-like in your Seraglio stand. 1821 Scott Pirate xxxix, An arrogant pretender to the favour of the sisters of Burgh-Westra, who only hesitated, sultan-like, on whom he should bestow the handkerchief. 1837 Lett. fr. Madras (1843) 48 A turbaned sultan-like creature. |
| 1899 Daily News 21 Oct. 7/7 Some such colour as *Sultan pink or tapestry blue. |
| Mod. Advt. The World's Classics..Published in..*Sultan-red Leather. |
Hence
ˈsultan v. intr., to rule as a sultan, play the despot, tyrannize.
| 1886 Burton Arab. Nts. (abr. ed.) III. 409 Here Janshah abode, Sultaning over them for a year and a half. |
▪ II. sultan variant of
sultane Obs.