Visiers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A high-ranking governmental official or adviser, often in a Muslim context
2. A person appointed to oversee certain administrative functions within a state or organization
3. A title associated with powerful leaders who manage affairs and offer counsel to sovereigns

Etymology: "Visiers" is the plural of "visier," a noun for a high-ranking government official or adviser, often in a Muslim context. The Ottoman title "vizier" comes from the same family of forms, and the English spelling "visier" is the one that appears in older texts. The form sits in the same family as "visor," which itself comes from French "visière," meaning the part of a helmet that could be raised to show the face. The sense of an official shielding or screening a ruler is plausibly a later extension of that idea. The word is probably borrowed from French "visière" or an earlier form of it, with German "Visier" as a possible parallel source. Because the exact route is uncertain, the most secure statement is that the word reached English through a Romance and German-influenced pathway linked to the notion of a face-covering or screening device.