hetman

From Polish hetman, probably from Middle High German houbetman, heuptman (“commander”), from Old High German houbitman, from Proto-West Germanic *haubidamann. Compare modern German Hauptmann (“captain”), Haupt, Mann. The Polish e in hetman attests to a borrowing from an East Central German dialect, in which Middle High German -öu- gives -ē-. Doublet of head man.

hetman (plural hetmans or hetmen)

1. (history) A Cossack headman or general.
2. Title used by the second-highest military commander in Poland and Lithuania (15th to 18th century).

• ataman
• hegumen

• Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982–2012), “гетьман”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka

• Hemant, Manthe, anthem, mentha, nameth, the man

hetman m (plural hetmans)

1. hetman

• “hetman”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Borrowed from Middle High German houbetman, heuptman, from houbet, heupt. Compare German Hauptmann. The e in hetman attests to a borrowing from an East Central German dialect, in which Middle High German -öu- gives -ē-.

• Audio 1:

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• Audio 2:

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• Rhymes: -ɛtman
• Syllabification: het‧man

hetman m animal

1. (chess) queen (chess piece)

   Synonyms: dama, królowa, królówka

hetman m pers

1. (historical, military) Cossack military commander
2. (historical, military) title used by the senior military commanders in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (15th to 18th century)
3. (Middle Polish, military) any sort of military leader

• → Belarusian: ге́тман (hjétman)
• → Bulgarian: хе́тман (hétman)
• → English: hetman
• → French: hetman
• → German: Hetman
• → Portuguese: hétmã, hétmane
• → Romanian: hatman
• → Ukrainian: ге́тьман (hétʹman)
• → Russian: ге́тман (gétman)
  • → Uzbek: getman
• → Spanish: hetman

• hetman in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• hetman in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “hetman”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]

Possibly English head + man.

hetman

1. chief; leader