potentate

PRONUNCIATION: (POH-ten-tayt)
MEANING:
noun: One having great power, especially an autocratic person.
ETYMOLOGY:
Via French, from Latin posse (to be able). Ultimately from the Indo-European root poti- (powerful, lord), which is also the source of power, potent, possess, pasha, compossible, impuissance, and puissant. Earliest documented use: 1475.
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POTENTGATE - any scandal involving a powerful leader,
such as the scandal that gave us the euphemism "a monica lewinski".