maharaja

noun

ma·​ha·​ra·​ja ˌmä-hə-ˈrä-jə 

-ˈrä-zhə

variants or maharajah

: a Hindu prince ranking above a raja

Examples of maharaja in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 1849, a young maharaja, a regional ruler, who was only 10 or 11 years old was coerced into giving it to the British when the province of Punjab was annexed. —Patrick Smith, NBC News, 4 May 2023

He is borne aloft, like a maharaja or an infant. —Garret Keizer, Harper's Magazine, 17 Aug. 2021

In the nineteen-seventies, the young maharaja began to restore the fort, to open it to the public. —Dorothy Wickenden, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2022

Named Sriwijaya, it was ruled by a maharaja, centered on the island of Sumatra in what is now Indonesia, and flourished in the period C.E. 650 to 1377. —Scientific American, 28 July 2022

Word History

Etymology

Hindi & Urdu mahārāja, from Sanskrit, from mahat great + rājan raja; akin to Latin rex king — more at much, royal

First Known Use

1698, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

maharaja

noun

ma·​ha·​ra·​ja

variants or maharajah

ˌmä-hə-ˈräj-ə 

-ˈräzh-ə

: a Hindu prince ranking above a raja

Etymology

from Sanskrit (ancient language of India) mahārāja "maharaja," from mahat "great" and rājan "king, raja"