president
/ˈprɛzɪd(ə)nt
/noun
1The elected head of a republican state: the Irish president [as title]: President Kennedy...
- It had a democratically elected president and a Congress just as we do.
- I never thought I'd be so well cared for by the president and the Republicans in Congress.
- Everyone who says vote Democrat at any price accepts that somehow Democratic presidents have a better record than Republican presidents.
Synonyms
head of state, chief of state, elected head of a country
1.1The head of a society, council, or other organization: the president of the European Union...
- It's hard to be interested in winning when your organization - from the president down to the manager - isn't.
- Samuel Pepys was the son of a London tailor and a president of the Royal Society.
- And we'll also have gorillas, crows, dogs, and the new president of the Royal Society of London.
1.2The head of certain colleges.Baker and Upshaw assert that understanding and supporting the college mission is a basic expectation for community college presidents and their leadership teams....
- This person assisted the college presidents in alliance administrative matters.
- The executive director is on a par with the college presidents but does not have an allegiance to a particular campus, thus serving as a neutral party.
1.3North American The head of a university.A new president of Murray State University, F. King Alexander, took office this past winter....
- Only 2 percent of all women presidents head major research universities.
- The chief executive officer of a university is the president, who is usually appointed by the government.
1.4North American The head of a company.Foster was the president of Shaker Title Services, which is now defunct....
- Ecuador's state oil company president resigned Tuesday for failing to halt a steady decline in production.
Synonyms
chairman, chairwoman;
managing director, MD, chief executive (officer), CEO, director
2 Christian Church The celebrant at a Eucharist.The old typology understands the president at the Eucharist not in terms of a bare symbolism, but in terms of a symbolic realism....
- It was important, the president and the clergyman said, that they hear from a representative woman.
- The challenge cannot be remanded solely to rectors and presidents; it must effectively engage the entire community of believers.
Derivatives
presidentship
- After the shame of Gujarat, which has tarnished India's image as a secular, tolerant country, his presidentship is likely to send a positive message to the world.
- A meeting of all these committees was held in a marriage palace, 3 km from here, under the presidentship of Mr Ahir.
- The university's Urdu department organised many large seminars during his presidentship.
Origin
Late Middle English: via Old French from Latin praesident- 'sitting before' (see preside).