kaiser

What it means

1. An emperor of a German-speaking country, particularly the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806), the Austrian Empire/Austria-Hungary (1806–1918), or the German Empire (1871–1918) — often specifically Wilhelm II.
2. broadlyAny emperor or autocrat, or one who attempts to be one.

   And Black Ivo is a veritable Kaiser.

   1915, T. P.'s Weekly - Volume 26, page 444

   3 more examples

   […] that President Poincare, the first servant of France, is still Louis XIV, the former War-Lord, the Kaiser of France […]

   1916, The Provocation of France, page 147

   Senator Sherman vigorously assailed the Shantung agreement, declaring that it would make the Mikado a veritable Kaiser of the Far East and alienate the sympathies of the 400,000,000 Chinese – from the people of the United States.

   1919, Far Eastern Political Science Review - Volume 1, page 49

   […] which, from the banking point of view, the National City Bank is a veritable kaiser.

   1929, Through the Leaves, page 489

3. A Kaiser roll: a round, pinwheel-shaped roll.

In a sentence

And Black Ivo is a veritable Kaiser.

1915, T. P.'s Weekly - Volume 26, page 444

Where it comes from

1. LatinCaesar
2. Proto-Germanic*kaisaraz
3. Proto-West Germanic*kaisar
4. Old High Germankeisar“emperor”
5. Middle Englishkayser
6. EnglishKaiser

Inherited from Middle English kayser, from Old High German keisar (“emperor”), from Proto-West Germanic *kaisar, from Proto-Germanic *kaisaraz, from Latin Caesar. The native Old English descendant of that Proto-Germanic word was cāser (“emperor”), but the shape of Middle English kayser (“emperor”) (versus the expected *caser, *coser) suggests it was borrowed from another Germanic language rather than inherited, and the modern English spelling and sense seem to be modified after modern German rather than a direct continuation of Middle English. Compare tsar, which was borrowed from Slavic. Doublet of Caesar and tsar.