# president

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpɹɛz.ɪ.dənt/ · frequency rank #340

## Definitions
1. The head of state of a republic.
2. In presidential republics, the head of government and head of state.
3. Primary leader of a corporation. Not to be confused with CEO, which is a related but separate position that is sometimes held by a different person.
4. A person presiding over a meeting; a chair, presiding officer, presider.
5. Obsolete form of precedent.

## Etymology
From Old French president, from Latin praesidēns (“presiding over; president, leader”) (accusative: praesidentem). The Latin word is the substantivized present active participle of the verb praesideō (“preside over”). The verb is composed from prae (“before”) and sedeō (“sit”). The original meaning of the verb is 'to sit before' in the sense of presiding at a meeting. A secondary meaning of the verb is 'to command, to govern'. So praesidēns means 'the presiding one on a meeting' or 'governor, commander'.

## Easily confused with
- **provident** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/president-vs-provident)
- **present** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/present-vs-president)
- **preside** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/preside-vs-president)
- **precedent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/precedent-vs-president)
- **prescient** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/prescient-vs-president)
- **presidency** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/presidency-vs-president)

## Common misspellings (14)
`persident`, `ppresident`, `preisdent`, `presdient`, `presiddent`, `presidennt`, `presidentt`, `presidetn`, `presidnet`, `presiednt`, `pressident`, `prresident`, `prseident`, `rpesident`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/president