vizier

plural viziers · alternative vezir · alternative vezîr · alternative vazir · alternative wasir · alternative wazir · alternative wazīr · alternative vizir · alternative vizeer · alternative guazil

1. historyA high-ranking official or minister in an Islamic government, especially in the Ottoman Empire.

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   Today, Jews celebrate the holiday of Purim, a festival of revelry that commemorates their deliverance from an ancient genocidal plot. […] Traditionally, a scroll containing that book is read twice over the holiday, with listeners making noise to drown out the name of the story’s villain, Haman, a vizier who manipulated the Persian king into nearly eradicating the Jews.

   2022 March 17, Yair Rosenberg, “The Anti-Semite on Your TV”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 16 Feb 2024

2. historyThe highest-ranking official or minister in ancient Egypt or Ebla; a chief administrator or a chancellor.
3. historyAn ancient Mesopotamian civil servant, the sukkal (𒈛 (sukkal)).

   Momus is not otherwise attested as Zeus’s advisor, but in name and function he matches Apsu’s vizier Mummu.

   2025 December 12, Tom Hercules Davies, “Horses, Wheels, Languages: Greek, Mesopotamian and Indic Epic on the Eurasian Steppe”, in The Classical Quarterly, volume 75, number 1, page 3

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   As Inanna prepares to descend she fastens the seven divine laws to her side, and as she walks toward the netherworld she speaks to her vizier, Ninshubur.

   1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 174

4. A vicegerent, viceroy.
5. board gamesA fairy chess piece that can only be moved one space up, down, left or right.