magnate means powerful industrialist; captain of industry. It carries an Arena rating of 1647, earned across 31 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, magnate ranks #1,205 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,485 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,733 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,511 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words.
magnate is pronounced /ˈmæɡneɪt/.
Why “magnate” is a great word
MAGNATE — [Noun] A person of commanding power, wealth, and influence, particularly within a major industry or enterprise. From Late Latin magnātēs, plural of magnās, from Latin magnus ("great"), first attested in Middle English in the mid-15th century. Unlike "tycoon," which hums with the dynamism of the self-made industrialist, or "aristocrat," which is conferred by bloodline and title, a magnate is defined by the sheer gravitational pull of accumulated capital and sway. It is the coal-dust shadow of a factory owner against the mill-town sky, the cold weight of a railway stock certificate in a safe, and the press lord whose morning editorial can unsettle governments—the modern incarnation of feudal dominion, where influence is the true title deed.
Etymology
Borrowed into late Middle English from Late Latin magnātēs, plural of magnās, from magnus (“great”), mid 15th c.
noun
- Powerful industrialist; captain of industry.e.g.“I have decided to become an oil magnate, after spending quite some time reading the dictionary definition of the word magnate.”
- A person of rank, influence or distinction in any sphere.e.g.“He mingled with the Magnates of his land; / Join'd the carousals of the great and gay, […]” — 1814, [Lord Byron], “[Lara, a Tale.] Canto I.”, in Lara, a Tale. Jacqueline, a Tale, London: […] [F]or J[ohn] Murray, […], [b]y T[homas] Davison, […], →OCLC, stanza VII, page 10, lines 98–99:
- In medieval and early modern Italy, a member of a legally defined category of especially wealthy patrician families, often deprived of the right to political participation by republican governments.e.g.“Those considered politically dangerous could be excluded from office by declaring them magnates, while cancellation of magnate status was a mark of favour, a means of political patronage.” — 2006, Christine Shaw, Popular Government and Oligarchy in Renaissance Italy, →ISBN, page 152:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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