What is the difference between czar and tsar

Barrie England Barrie England k 10 10 gold badges silver badges bronze badges. This NGram shows how tsar came to be the dominant spelling almost a century ago, confirming my suspicion that czar is the older version. It's probably only been used at all in recent decades to deliberately evoke the sense of talking about something very long ago. The Guardian newspaper style guide says tsar not czar. Avoid "the government's transport tsar" or other PR-generated nonsense — Hugo.

But even though that particular one goes against the trend, the fact is that tsar has been twice as common as czar for at least half a century. FumbleFingers The 'fact', is that czar is currently the dominant spelling and that is according to a balanced corpus, not google books. The Guardian Style Guide cannot simply prescribe otherwise.

I suggest people who agree with your original and erroneous comment on the usage of czar search this corpus for themselves. Here is the picture over years. Czar is more common in total, but definitely not over the last 50 years. If you have different data, let's see it. Show 5 more comments. Origin of 'czar' and 'tsar' Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary lists czar as the primary spelling in U.

Webster's Word Histories , in a fairly detailed discussion of the two spellings, attributes the spelling czar to a sixteenth-century Austrian baron: czar Czar , or tsar , is our English word for a pre-Soviet Russian emperor. The entry for the term in John Ayto, Arcade Dictionary of Word Origins focuses exclusively on the derivation of the spelling tsar : tsar Caesar was a Roman cognomen English gets caesarian from it and from the days of Augustus was used as part of the title of 'emperor.

British and U. From Concise Oxford English Dictionary , revised tenth edition : czar etc. From Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus : tsar var. Bryan Garner, Garner's Modern American Usage , second edition comes out squarely in favor of the spelling czar : czar; tsar. A usage note under the entry for czar in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language , fourth edition offers perhaps the best explanation of this seeming anomaly: The word czar can also be spelled tsar.

Sven Yargs Sven Yargs k 30 30 gold badges silver badges bronze badges. Nice answer! Those ngram graphs look a little odd though — I wonder if the low frequency of the word affects their reliability.

The actual Ngram graphs that these charts are based on are as follows: British English, — ; American English, — I started at for years of coverage—and to avoid a spike around My charts used no rounding. Add a comment. Czar is not the only older form In this account of diplomacy from - A Relation of Three Embassies From his Sacred Majestie Charles II - : both forms occur , 'the czar' 5 times and 'the tzar' 56 times But amongst all the Princes of Europe , that, by their congratulations of his Re-establishment, seemed ardently to aspire at His Alliance, the Tzar of Moscovy had the most equitable pretentions.

Mario Elocio Mario Elocio 2, 15 15 silver badges 12 12 bronze badges. I always thought czar or csar came about because of the ae in Caesar often ligated. Nonnative speakers couldn't figure out how to pronounce it, so the ae was left out. The s in Caesar is pronounced as if it were z Ray Ray 19 1 1 bronze badge. While your answer based on personal experience is good, for questions like this we really appreciate answers that point to sources.

Geoff Geoff 1. A man with a time machine! I need you to run a few errands This is wrong on many accounts. Tsar or , also spelled czar, tzar, or csar, is a title used to designate East and South Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers of Eastern Europe, originally the Bulgarian monarchs from 10th century onwards, much later a title for two rulers of the Serbian Empire, and from the supreme ruler of the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire.

In this last capacity it lends its name to a system of government, tsarist autocracy or tsarism. Published: 5 Jan, Czar noun alternative spelling of tsarespecially common in American English. Tsar noun historical An emperor of Russia to and of some South Slavic states. Czar noun A king; a chief; the title of the emperor of Russia. Tsar noun figuratively A person with great power; an autocrat.

Czar noun a male monarch or emperor especially of Russia prior to Tsar noun An appointed official tasked to regulate or oversee a specific area.

Czar noun a person having great power. Tsar noun The title of the emperor of Russia. See Czar. Tsar noun a male monarch or emperor especially of Russia prior to Tsar Tsar or , also spelled czar, tzar, or csar, is a title used to designate East and South Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers of Eastern Europe, originally the Bulgarian monarchs from 10th century onwards, much later a title for two rulers of the Serbian Empire, and from the supreme ruler of the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire.

Czar Illustrations. Popular Comparisons. Adress vs. Comming vs. Label vs. Genius vs. Speech vs. Chief vs. Teat vs. English Language Learners Definition of czar. Kids Definition of czar.

Get Word of the Day daily email! Test Your Vocabulary. Test your vocabulary with our question quiz! Love words? Need even more definitions? Homophones, Homographs, and Homonyms The same, but different. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Nov. Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'? How 'literally' can mean "figuratively". Literally How to use a word that literally drives some pe Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?