sultan

• sultân (archaic)
• sulṭān (rare)

From French sultan, from Ottoman Turkish سلطان (sultan), from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān, “strength, authority, ruler”). (compare Hebrew שִׁלְטוֹן (shiltón) and Hebrew סוּלְטָן (sultán)).^[1] Doublet of soldan.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsʌltən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sul‧tan
• Rhymes: -ʌltən

sultan (countable and uncountable, plural sultans or (rare, only in certain senses) salateen)

1. (historical) The holder of a secular office, formally subordinate to, but de facto the power behind the throne of, the caliph.
2. A hereditary ruler in various Muslim states (sultanate), varying from petty principalities (as in Yemen), often vassal of a greater ruler, to independent realms, such as Oman, Brunei, Morocco (until 1957) or an empire such as the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
   • 2006, “Jambi”, performed by Tool:

     Here from the king's mountain view
     Here from the wild dream come true
     Feast like a sultan, I do
     On treasures and flesh never few

3. (card games, uncountable) A variant of solitaire, played with two decks of cards.
4. A breed of chicken originating in Turkey, kept primarily in gardens for ornamental reasons. See: sultan (chicken)

• sultan tit
• sultana
• sultanate

• → Chinese: 蘇丹 / 苏丹 (sūdān)

• sultana bird

• Naults, unlast

• soltan

From Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān).

• Audio:

  (file)

sultan (definite accusative sultanı, plural sultanlar)

1. sultan

• “sultan” in Obastan.com.

From Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān).

sultan c (singular definite sultanen, plural indefinite sultaner)

1. sultan (ruler)

• “sultan” in Den Danske Ordbog

From Turkish sultan, from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān), from Aramaic שולטנא (šulṭānā, “strength, authority”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈsʏl.tɑn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sul‧tan

sultan m (plural sultans, feminine sultane)

1. sultan, a Muslim ruler title
2. a certain pastry

• sultana f
• sultanaat n
• sultane f
• sultanshoen n

• M. J. Koenen & J. Endepols, Verklarend Handwoordenboek der Nederlandse Taal (tevens Vreemde-woordentolk), Groningen, Wolters-Noordhoff, 1969 (26th edition) [Dutch dictionary in Dutch]

From German Sultan.

sultan (genitive sultani, partitive sultanit)

1. sultan (ruler)

Declension of sultan (ÕS type 2/õpik, no gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		sultan	sultanid
accusative	nom.
	gen.	sultani
genitive			sultanite
partitive		sultanit	sultaneid
illative		sultanisse	sultanitesse sultaneisse
inessive		sultanis	sultanites sultaneis
elative		sultanist	sultanitest sultaneist
allative		sultanile	sultanitele sultaneile
adessive		sultanil	sultanitel sultaneil
ablative		sultanilt	sultanitelt sultaneilt
translative		sultaniks	sultaniteks sultaneiks
terminative		sultanini	sultaniteni
essive		sultanina	sultanitena
abessive		sultanita	sultaniteta
comitative		sultaniga	sultanitega

• sultaniriik

• sultanaat

• “sultan”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
• sultan in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

Inherited from Middle French sultan (“ruler of a Muslim state”), from Ottoman Turkish سلطان. See English sultan for more.

• IPA^(key): /syl.tɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

sultan m (plural sultans, feminine sultane)

1. a sultan: a Muslim ruler with a certain title
2. a silk-ornamented basket
3. a perfume sachet to put in a linen coffer

• soudan

• → Faroese: sultánur
• → Portuguese: sultão

• Nouveau Petit Larousse illustré. Dictionnaire encyclopédique. Paris, Librairie Larousse, 1952, 146th edition

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

sultan

1. definite nominative singular of sulta

From Malay sultan, from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān), from Aramaic שולטנא (šulṭānā, “strength, authority, ruler, prince”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈsʊltan]
• Hyphenation: sul‧tan

sultan (plural sultan-sultan)

1. sultan
   1. (historical) The holder of a secular office, formally subordinate to, but de facto the power behind the throne of, the caliph.
   2. A hereditary ruler in various Muslim states (sultanate), varying from petty principalities (as in Yemen), often vassal of a greater ruler, to independent realms, such as Oman, Brunei, Morocco (until 1957) or an empire such as the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
2. (slang) rich: the rich people of a society or the world collectively, the rich class of a society

• (sultan): baginda
• (sultan): raja

• “sultan” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

From Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān), from Aramaic שולטנא (šulṭānā, “strength, authority, ruler, prince”).

sultan (Jawi spelling سلطان, plural sultan-sultan)

1. sultan (ruler)

• kesultanan

• Indonesian: sultan
• → Min Nan: 史丹 (sú-tan)
• → Tagalog: sultan

• “sultan” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

• soltan

From Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān).

• IPA^(key): /sulˈtaːn/

sultan m (plural slaten, feminine sultana, diminutive slajten or slajtan)

1. (dated, historical or figurative) king, monarch, ruler

   Synonym: re

   • 2008, Trevor Żahra, Il-Ġenn li Jżommni f’Sikti, Merlin Publishers, →ISBN:

     Is-sema bagħatlu sabi u s-sultan żamm kelmtu!

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• The word is rare for the kings of modern internationally recognised states, but is otherwise still used in a broader or historical sense. Compare the same in saltna versus renju.

From Ottoman Turkish سلطان (or an Old Anatolian Turkish ancestor) or directly from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān).

sultan m (plural sultans)

1. sultan (ruler of a Muslim state)

• French: sultan
  • → Faroese: sultánur
  • → Portuguese: sultão
• → English: sultan

From Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān).

sultan m (definite singular sultanen, indefinite plural sultaner, definite plural sultanene)

1. sultan (ruler)

• “sultan” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān).

sultan m (definite singular sultanen, indefinite plural sultanar, definite plural sultanane)

1. sultan (ruler)

• “sultan” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /sylˈtaŋ/

sultan m

1. sultan (ruler)

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish سلطان (sultan), from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān).

• IPA^(key): /sulˈtan/

sultan m (plural sultani)

1. sultan

• sultană
• sultănesc

• “sultan”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

From Ottoman Turkish سلطان (compare Turkish sultan), from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān). First attested in the 13th century.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /sǔltaːn/
• Hyphenation: sul‧tan

sùltān m anim (Cyrillic spelling су̀лта̄н)

1. sultan

• “sultan”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

sultan m animacy unspecified

1. sultan (ruler)

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

• “sultan”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

From Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān).

sultan c

1. sultan (ruler)

• → Finnish: sulttaani

• sultan in Svenska Akademiens ordlista över svenska språket (14th ed., online)

• anslut, lustan, lutans, slutna

Either from Malay sultan or from Spanish sultán, ultimately from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān).

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /sulˈtan/ [sʊlˈt̪an̪]
• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: sul‧tan

sultán (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜓᜎ᜔ᜆᜈ᜔)

1. sultan (hereditary ruler in various Muslim states)

• sultanato
• sultaniya
• sultana

• “sultan”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

From Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān), from Aramaic שולטנא (šulṭānā, “strength, authority, ruler, prince”).

• (Sinūgan Parianun) IPA^(key): /sultan/ [sʊlˈt̪an̪]
• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: sul‧tan

sultan (Sulat Sūg spelling سُلْطَان)

1. sultan (Muslim king)

From Ottoman Turkish سلطان (sultân), from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān), from Aramaic שולטנא (šulṭānā, “strength, authority”) (compare Hebrew שִׁלְטוֹן (shiltón)).

• IPA^(key): /suɫˈtɑ(ː)n/

sultan (definite accusative sultanı, plural sultanlar)

1. A monarchic title for Sunni Muslim monarchs.
2. A noble title for monarch's mother, wives and children.
3. An honorific title for Bektashi saints.
4. A breed of chicken originating in Turkey, kept primarily in gardens for ornamental reasons. See: sultan (chicken)

sultan

1. sultan (Muslim king)