Part of a series on |
Imperial, royal, noble, gentry and chivalric ranks in West, Central, South Asia and North Africa |
---|
Raʾīs (Arabic: رئيس), plural ruʾasāʾ, is an Arabic title meaning 'chief' or 'leader'. It comes from the word for head, raʾs. The corresponding word for leadership or chieftaincy is riʾāsa.[1] It is often translated as 'president' in Arabic, and as 'boss' in Persian. Swahili speakers may also use it for president. The Ottoman Turkish form of the title is reis, which denoted a captain (a term with identical etymology, being from Latin caput, 'head').The term raʾīs is of pre-Islamic origin. It may function as an honorific laqab in a person's name. In the central Arab world, the term originally meant village headman.[1]