pasha

Also found in: Thesaurus, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

pa·sha

also pa·cha (pä′shə, păsh′ə, pə-shä′)

Used formerly as a title for military and civil officers, especially in Turkey and northern Africa.

[Ottoman Turkish paşa (a title originally bestowed on a son of Osman I who did not succeed his father as sultan and on this son's descendants), perhaps ultimately from Middle Persian waččag, child (of unknown origin; for the semantic development of the Ottoman title, compare English childe and Spanish infante; see infante), or from alteration of Persian pādshāh; see Padishah.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pasha

(ˈpɑːʃə; ˈpæʃə) or

pacha

(Historical Terms) (formerly) a provincial governor or other high official of the Ottoman Empire or the modern Egyptian kingdom: placed after a name when used as a title

[C17: from Turkish paşa]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pa•sha

(ˈpɑ ʃə, ˈpæʃ ə, pəˈʃɑ, -ˈʃɔ)

n., pl. -shas.

a former title placed after the name of high officials in countries under Turkish rule.

[1640–50; < Turkish paşa]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

pasha - a civil or military authority in Turkey or Egypt

pacha

authority - (usually plural) persons who exercise (administrative) control over others; "the authorities have issued a curfew"

Translations

pasha

[ˈpæʃə] N → bajá m, pachá m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

pasha

n → Pascha m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

References in classic literature ?

Katia, Pasha," she added suddenly, seeing the servants at the door, "come here!

I shall leave you and Pasha a lot of things, I've laid them out for you already; but good-bye, now.

Daria Alexeyevna ran into the next room and whispered excitedly to Katia and Pasha. The beautiful German disappeared altogether.

View in context

Papoosh Pasha, the Turkish Ambassador (attended by Kibob Bey, dragoman of the mission), the Marquess of Steyne, Earl of Southdown, Sir Pitt and Lady Jane Crawley, Mr.

The black slave was given to Bedwin Sands by an Egyptian pasha in exchange for three dozen of Maraschino.

mercy!" cries the Pasha: while the Kislar Aga, grinning horribly, pulls out--a bow-string.

Papoosh Pasha himself would have liked to dance with her if that amusement had been the custom of his country.

View in context

Some time after, it was stated that the Comte de Morcerf (this was the name he bore) had entered the service of Ali Pasha with the rank of instructor-general.

View in context

When she stole about me with the soft step of a slave, I felt at once barbarous and sensual as a pasha. I endured her homage sometimes; sometimes I rebuked it.

View in context

"Junot, who was his devoted friend, and a first-class fighter, only takes a thousand men, and makes a clean sweep of the Pasha's army, which had the impudence to bar our way.

View in context

Livia settled all things for the succession of her son Tiberius, by continual giving out, that her husband Augustus was upon recovery and amendment, and it is an usual thing with the pashas, to conceal the death of the Great Turk from the janizaries and men of war, to save the sacking of Constantinople and other towns, as their manner is.

View in context

He was a tall, sunburnt, and very silent man, who wore a red smoking-cap like a fez, making him look like one of the English Sirdars or Pashas in Egypt.