| Raʾīs (Arabic: رئيس), plural ruʾasāʾ, is an Arabic title meaning 'chief' or 'leader'. It comes from the word for head, raʾs. The corresponding word for leadership or chieftaincy is riʾāsa. It is often translated as 'president' in Arabic, and as 'boss' in Persian. Swahili speakers may also use it for president. The Ottoman Turkish form of the title is reis, which denoted a captain (a term with identical etymology, being from Latin caput, 'head').The term raʾīs is of pre-Islamic origin. It may function as an honorific laqab in a person's name. In the central Arab world, the term originally meant village headman. |
