- One who reigns over a state or territory, usually for life and by hereditary right, especially:
- A sole and absolute ruler.
- A sovereign, such as a king or empress, often with constitutionally limited authority: a constitutional monarch.
- One that commands or rules: "I am monarch of all I survey" (William Cowper).
- One that surpasses others in power or preeminence: "Mont Blanc is the monarch of the mountains" (Byron).
- A monarch butterfly.
[Middle English monarke, from Old French monarque, from Late Latin monarcha, from Greek monarkhos : mono-, mono- + arkhein, to rule.]
monarchal mo·nar'chal (mə-när'kəl) or mo·nar'chic (-kĭk) or mo·nar'chi·cal (-kĭ-kəl) adj.monarchally mo·nar'chal·ly or mo·nar'chi·cal·ly adv.





