archon

[ahr-kon]

noun

1. a higher magistrate in ancient Athens.

2. any ruler.

archon

/ ˈɑːkɒn, -kən /

noun

1. (in ancient Athens) one of the nine chief magistrates

Other Word Forms

• archonship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of archon¹

1650–60; < Greek árchōn magistrate, ruler, noun use of present participle of árchein to be first, rule; archi-

Word History and Origins

Origin of archon¹

C17: from Greek arkhōn ruler, from arkhein to rule

Example Sentences

The thing that strikes me about Europe’s archons of austerity, its doyens of deflation, is their self-indulgence.

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All those years of running from city to city one step ahead of the Usurper's knives, pleading for help from archons and princes and magisters, buying our food with flattery.

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Had such heresies been spoken in Athens, where the effects of a religious revival were still in force, the “secular arm” of the archons would probably have made short work of Xenophanes.

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Old forms and names remain—there are still consuls and archons, poets and philosophers, but the atmosphere is another, and the names have a new meaning, if they have any at all.

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Parasites were two in number for each of the archons, and one for the polemarchs.

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