Maharani

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A title for a woman of distinguished royal status in some South Asian cultures, frequently linked to the spouse of a king or ruler
2. A designation given to a female royal figure, often married to a ruling king in parts of South Asia
3. Used to refer to a woman holding a high royalty rank, typically the consort of a monarch in Indian regions

Etymology: The title is a compound built from two Sanskrit elements: "mahā," meaning "great," and "rājñī," meaning "queen," the feminine form of "rājan," "king." Put together, the phrase means "great queen," and it passed into Hindustani in that form, where it appears as مہارانی and महारानी, both transcribed as "mahārānī." Its path into English runs through Hindustani, the language that gave English many words in the colonial period, so the title reached English speakers as a term for the wives of Indian rulers and, more broadly, for women holding royal rank in South Asia. The word carries the same grandeur as its parts: "mahā" is a common prefix in Sanskrit for size and importance, and "rājñī" ties the title to the older Indo-Aryan vocabulary of kingship.

Synonyms: queen, ruler, monarch