- a sovereign head of state, esp a king, queen, or emperor, who rules usually by hereditary right
- a supremely powerful or pre-eminent person or thing
- Also called: milkweed a large migratory butterfly, Danaus plexippus, that has orange-and-black wings and feeds on the milkweed plant: family Danaidae
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
mon•arch /ˈmɑnɚk, -ɑrk/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Governmenta ruler, as a king, queen, or emperor; the sole ruler of a state or nation.
mon•arch
(mon′ərk, -ärk),USA pronunciation n.
- Governmenta hereditary sovereign, as a king, queen, or emperor.
- Governmenta sole and absolute ruler of a state or nation.
- a person or thing that holds a dominant position:a monarch of international shipping.
- InsectsSee monarch butterfly.
- Greek monárchēs sole ruler; see mon-, -arch
- Late Latin monarcha
- late Middle English 1400–50
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
monarch /ˈmɒnək/ n
'monarch' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
absolutism
- -arch
- audience
- command
- Congo
- consort
- coronation
- Crown
- emperor
- head
- king
- legitimate
- lord
- Luang Prabang
- metonymy
- milkweed
- monarchy
- Orange
- palace
- potentate
- presence chamber
- prince
- privy council
- privy purse
- protector
- regent
- reign
- royal
- royalist
- royalty
- Royal Commission
- rule
- sceptre
- Scotland
- sire
- sovereign
- subject
- throne
- yeoman of the guard
- absolute
- arch
- autocracy
- autocrat
- Batesian mimicry
- bend
- blood royal
- Buckingham Palace
- Foot Guards
- halo
- herald