Definition of "khan" []

• A ruler, an official, or an important person in India and some central Asian countries. (noun)
• A medieval ruler of a Mongol, Tartar, or Turkish tribe. (noun)
• A caravansary in certain Asian countries. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "October 5th, 2009 6: 19 pm ET ah … they are just letting me win. rakin khan, Toronto"
• "The immediate jurisdiction of the khan is confined within the limits of his own tribe; and the exercise of his royal prerogative has been moderated by the ancient institution of a national council."
• "After the murder of his father Karzai inherited the title khan ( "head") of the 500,000-strong Popolzai — the Pashtoon clan of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the Persian army commander who conquered the southern Afghan city of Kandahar and in 1747 became the first king of Afghanistan."