Caesardom

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The authority, rule, or domain governed by a Caesar, meaning an emperor with supreme imperial power
2. Imperial sovereignty exercised by an emperor, or the territory and dominion over which such a ruler holds sway
3. The position and absolute power of a Roman-style emperor, along with the realm that falls under that rule

Etymology: "Caesardom" is a plain compound: the name of the Roman emperor "Caesar" with the suffix "-dom," which marks a state, rank, or domain, as in "kingdom" or "dukedom." The word therefore names the realm or rule of a Caesar, that is, of an emperor. Its most striking feature is that it is a doublet of "tsardom," the English word for the realm of a tsar. Both titles descend from the same Latin name: "Caesar" passed into Germanic and Slavic languages, and the Slavic form became "tsar" (Russian "tsar'," from the Latin-derived Germanic "kaisar"), while "Caesar" itself stayed closer to its Latin form. Two English words, one origin, differing by the route the title took to reach English.