podesta

noun

po·​de·​sta ˌpō-də-ˈstä How to pronounce podesta (audio)
: a chief magistrate in a medieval Italian municipality

Word History

Etymology

Italian podestà, literally, power, from Latin potestat-, potestas, irregular from potis able — more at potent

First Known Use

1553, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of podesta was in 1553

Dictionary Entries Near podesta

podeon

podesta

podetial

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Podesta.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/podesta. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on podesta

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about podesta

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

Your vs. You're: How to Use Them Correctly

Every Letter Is Silent, Sometimes: A-Z List of Examples

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Absent Letters That Are Heard Anyway
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

A Great Big List of Bread Words

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels

12 More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

9 Superb Owl Words
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game You can make only 12 words. Pick the best ones!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A crossword with a twist
winning words from the national spelling bee logo
Spelling Bee Quiz Can you outdo past winners of the National Spelli...