Definition of "monarch" []

• One who reigns over a state or territory, usually for life and by hereditary right, especially: (noun)
• A sole and absolute ruler. (noun)
• A sovereign, such as a king or empress, often with constitutionally limited authority: a constitutional monarch. (noun)
• One that commands or rules: "I am monarch of all I survey” ( William Cowper). (noun)
• One that surpasses others in power or preeminence: "Mont Blanc is the monarch of the mountains” ( Byron). (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.

• "To this day, the monarch is the “commander-in-chief” of the British armed forces."
• "Bowing your head to a monarch is an act of subservience."
• "It's funny -- I think most Canadians agree that the monarch is a kind of pointless thing."