1
a
: a provincial governor in the Ottoman Empire
b
: the former native ruler of Tunis or Tunisia
2
—used as a courtesy title in Turkey and Egypt
Examples of bey in a Sentence
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Zog is for his grandfather, an Ottoman bey, or chieftain, who became prime minister of Albania in 1922 and upgraded himself to president three years later, then to king in 1928.
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Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2022
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Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Bey.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bey. Accessed 31 Jul. 2025.
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