khagan

• kagan
• kaghan

Ultimately from Old Turkic 𐰴𐰍𐰣‎ (qaɣan).

khagan (plural khagans)

1. A khan of khans, a ruler of a khaganate; (the holder of) an imperial rank used among certain Turkic and Mongolian peoples, equal in status to an emperor.
   • 1988, Christina Pribićević-Zorić, translating Milorad Pavić, Dictionary of the Khazars, Vintage 1989, p. 69:

     As early as the year 740 A.D., one of the Khazar kaghans had turned to Constantinople for a missionary versed in Christian law.

   • 2007, Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road (Sceptre 2008), page 52:

     "A kagan is the father, the mother and the lover of all his people. Nobody would lift a hand against him," said Hanukkah.

• khaganate

• kangha, khanga

khagan m (plural khagans)

1. khagan (title of imperial rank used by some Turkic and Mongolian peoples)