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mon·arch (mŏnərk, -ärk′)
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n.
1. One who reigns over a state or territory, usually for life and by hereditary right, especially:
a. A sole and absolute ruler.
b. A sovereign, such as a king or empress, often with constitutionally limited authority: a constitutional monarch.
2. One that commands or rules: "I am monarch of all I survey" (William Cowper).
3. One that surpasses others in power or preeminence: "Mont Blanc is the monarch of the mountains" (Byron).
4. A monarch butterfly.
[Middle English monarke, from Old French monarque, from Late Latin monarcha, from Greek monarkhos : mono-, mono- + arkhein, to rule.]
mo·narchal (mə-närkəl), mo·narchic (-kĭk), mo·narchi·cal (-kĭ-kəl) adj.
mo·narchal·ly, mo·narchi·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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