Chiliarch
/ˈkɪliˌɑːrk/noun
A commander of a thousand soldiers, especially in ancient Greek or Hellenistic contexts.
Did you know?In Greek military and imperial contexts, a chiliarch was a real rank of authority, and the same Greek root behind it also lives on in words like millennium and chiliometer—same ancient number magic, different disguise.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
χιλίαρχος (khiliarkhos)
“commander of a thousand men”
Late Greek / Hellenistic
Greek
χιλίαρχος
“high military officer, especially in Persian and later Greek usage”
Latin
Latin
chiliarchus
“a commander of a thousand”
16th Century
English
chiliarch
“a commander of a thousand soldiers”
Modern English
English
chiliarch
“an archaic or historical term for a commander of a thousand”
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