kaiser

CEFRB2

/kˈaɪzər/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A title used by former German emperors and some German rulers.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    An emperor of a German-speaking country, particularly the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806), the Austrian Empire/Austria-Hungary (1806–1918), or the German Empire (1871–1918) — often specifically Wilhelm II.

Examples

  • Kaiser will go to Germany next week.

  • The Kaiser asked Theodore Roosevelt to intervene.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. Any emperor or autocrat, or one who attempts to be one.

More examples

In context

  • The kaiser paid tribute to the sultan to avoid being attacked.

  • And Black Ivo is a veritable Kaiser.

  • […] that President Poincare, the first servant of France, is still Louis XIV, the former War-Lord, the Kaiser of France […]

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank was the German emperor who lost power after World War I.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Inherited from Middle English kayser, from Old High German keisar (“emperor”), from Proto-West Germanic *kaisar, from Proto-Germanic *kaisaraz. The native Old English descendant of that Proto-Germanic word was cāser (“emperor”), but the shape of Middle English kayser (“emperor”) (versus the expected *caser, *coser) suggests it was borrowed from another Germanic language rather than inherited, and the modern English spelling and sense seem to be modified after modern German rather than a direct continuation of Middle English. Compare tsar, which was borrowed from Slavic. Doublet of Caesar and tsar.