What does "sultanate" mean?

A sovereign or vassal princely state—usually Muslim—where the ruler is styled sultan.

What is a synonym for "sultanate"?

Common synonyms include: ally, archduchy, archdukedom, body politic, buffer state, caliphate.

Sultanate

//ˈsʌltənət// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1
A sovereign or vassal princely state—usually Muslim—where the ruler is styled sultan.
2
country or territory ruled by a sultan wordnet
3
The office or position of sultan.

Synonyms

All synonyms

ally archduchy archdukedom body politic buffer state caliphate

Example

More examples

"A sultanate since the 12th century, the Maldives became a British protectorate in 1887."

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian سَلْطَنَت (saltanat). By surface analysis, sultan + -ate (forms noun denoting rank or office, the concrete charge of it).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.