Shogunal

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to or characteristic of the military rulers of Japan known as shoguns during their period of governance ; pertaining to the authority, affairs, or style associated with a shogunate government ; describing anything connected to the era or influence of shoguns in Japanese history
2. Associated with the political or cultural aspects of the shogunate system in Japan ; referring to the traits, customs, or governance linked to the shogunal regime ; indicative of the power, administration, or period dominated by shoguns
3. Connected to the leadership or administrative functions of historical Japanese shoguns ; relating to the particular social, military, or governmental features of shogunal rule ; signifying affiliations with the shogun’s authority or reign in Japan’s feudal past

Etymology: "Shogunal" is a plain formation: the noun "shogun" with the adjective-forming suffix "-al" attached, meaning relating to or characteristic of a shogun. The suffix comes down through a long chain, from Latin "-alis" (denoting relation to something) through Old French "-al" and Middle English "-al", and it is one of the most productive ways English turns a noun into an adjective, as in "regal" or "presidential." The base word "shogun" is itself Japanese in origin, a shortened form of a longer title meaning roughly "commander-in-chief," and it entered English as a borrowing from Japanese. Once English had "shogun," adding "-al" was all that was needed to describe anything associated with the office, such as a shogunal palace or a shogunal decree. The adjective is a regular English coinage built on a loanword rather than a term with a history of its own.