zaimn.
a. Formerly, in the feudal system of Turkey, a chief who supported a mounted militia bearing his name. Cf. timariot n. Historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > lord > [noun] > feudal lord > Turkish
timariot1601
timar1604
zaim1807
1807 T. Thornton Present State of Turkey v. 165 Each of the feudal lords, whether zaïms or timariots, were enjoined by the charter by which they held their estates, to proceed to war.
a1823 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XV. 509/2 These Beys have the command over all the individuals in a certain district, who hold lands on the same tenure; the latter are called sipáhís or soldiers (seapoys), and in our books zaïms and timariots, from the different sort of estates which they hold in fee.
1913 A. H. Lybyer Govt. Ottoman Empire 101 The Zaims and Timariotes..were a class of country gentlemen.
b. In Lebanon, a popular leader or influential figure.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > leader > of the people
tribune1587
demagogue1651
jefe1844
Pasionaria1961
zaim1975
1975 New Society 23 Oct. 207/2 A characteristically Lebanese political institution, that of the zaim (leader) and his network of co-religionist clients.
1983 Listener 8 Sept. 6/2 When revolution came, it was..from the strongholds of the political godfathers—the zaʿims—Christian and Muslim, who ran the country as an extension of their personal fiefdoms.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1993; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1807