bashaw

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   historical spelling of pasha: a man of high rank or authority in the Ottoman Empire

   The provincial bashaw received the delegation in a guarded audience chamber.

2. 2
   noun

   figurative and often mocking: an imperious or self-important man

   The household joked that its fussy master behaved like a three-tailed bashaw.

A historical English variant of pasha, influenced by forms with initial b, ultimately from Ottoman Turkish pasa, a title for a high civil or military official. English writers also used bashaw figuratively for a domineering grandee. The old expression three-tailed bashaw referred to the highest rank, symbolized by three horsetail standards.

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