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magnate

American  
[mag-neyt, -nit] / ˈmæg neɪt, -nɪt /

noun

  1. a person of great influence, importance, or standing in a particular enterprise, field of business, etc..

    a railroad magnate.

  2. a person of eminence or distinction in any field.

    literary magnates.

  3. a member of the former upper house in either the Polish or Hungarian parliament.

magnate British  
/ ˈmæɡneɪt, -nɪt /

noun

  1. a person of power and rank in any sphere, esp in industry

  2. history a great nobleman

  3. (formerly) a member of the upper chamber in certain European parliaments, as in Hungary

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • magnateship noun

Etymology

Origin of magnate

1400–50; back formation from Middle English magnates (plural) < Late Latin magnātēs leading people, equivalent to Latin magn ( us ) magn- + -ātēs, plural of -ās noun suffix

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Victorian-era town with dramatic cliffs is on the windswept northeast coast and was developed as a resort by a Quaker mining and railroad magnate in 1861.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

Shnaider, based in Canada, is a Soviet-born steel magnate and property developer who in 2007 partnered with Donald Trump on a since renamed Trump-branded tower External link in Toronto.

From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026

The retail magnate was identified in a 2019 FBI document as a potential "co-conspirator".

From BBC • Feb. 18, 2026

The announcement comes nearly a decade after news broke of business magnate David Geffen’s record-high $150-million donation toward the construction of a new museum building to be designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2026

The second was a donation of £250,000 from the automobile magnate Lord Austin, which ended the Cavendish’s poverty-row ways for good.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.