# Kaiser



## Whodunit

Following Outsider's idea, I don't want to give the English translation of "*Kaiser*" (German) to give English speakers the chance to contribute something to this thread. It's said to be that "Kaiser" is the earliest loan word from Latin Caesar.

From which (Latin) root does the word for "Kaiser" in your language come? Is there also some connection to a popular "Kaiser" (as in German), for Caesar was the Roman Kaiser?


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## gao_yixing

In Chinese, Caesar is transliterated into 恺撒(kai sa).
But Kaiser, which means Germen emperor, is just called 德皇(de huang).
Tsar, which is also derived from Caesar, is called 沙皇(sha huang).


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## Chazzwozzer

*imparator*, meaning emperor, comes from Latin _imperator_. Some may argue Turkish has borrowed this word from Italian, _imperatore_.

*kayser *is more specific. It is a given name to Roman, Byzantium and German emperors. The word comes from Latin, _kaîsar_.


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## DrWatson

Finnish:

*keisari*

It's a loan from Swedish "kejsare" which means the same as German "Kaiser". The word *keisari* can be used to speak about all emperors in the world, including the emperors of Japan (=*Japanin keisari*) and China (=*Kiinan keisari*). In Finnish there's also a word *imperaattori* from Latin "imperator", but it's used only when referring to the imperatores of the ancient Rome.


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## Frank06

Hi,



Whodunit said:


> From which (Latin) root does the word for "Kaiser" in your language come?


Also in Dutch we have 'keizer' < Latin caesar.



> Is there also some connection to a popular "Kaiser" (as in German), for Caesar was the Roman Kaiser?


I don't think I understand the question well. But we don't have a Dutch noun which goes back to 'imperator'.
[edit: Any emperor, from Germany, Austria, China or Japan is called 'keizer' in Dutch]



> It's said to be that "Kaiser" is the earliest loan word from Latin Caesar.


It's indeed a very old loan, for two reasons:
1. Latin <c> was still pronounced as /k/ at the moment of the loan.
2. Latin <ae> was still pronounced as a diphtongue. Compare Latin 'Gr*ae*cus' and German Gr*ie*ch ( the 'ie' comes from older German(ic) forms with long e), which suggests that Latin already had a long e at the moment of that loan.

Groetjes,

Frank


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## Q-cumber

In Russian we use the same word "кайзер" (Kaiser). It means *German *(or *Austrian*) emperor. The word "Император" (emperor) has more general meaning and usually is being used in conjunction with a country (Empire) name - "Римский император" Roman emperor. There is no apparent link between Kaiser (кайзер) and Caesar (цезарь or кесарь) in Russian language.


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## Flaminius

*Japanese:*
Caesar as a Roman cognomen is transliterated as;
カエサル kaesaru

Caesar as a next reigning emperor of the Roman Empire is;
副帝 fukutē (lieutenant emperor)

The general term for emperor in any countries in the word except for Japan is;
皇帝 kōtē (traditional term since Qin Dynasty of China)

That of Japan is 天皇 (tennō).

German and Russian emperors are sometimes called respectively カイゼル (kaizeru) or カイザー (kaizā); ツァーリ (tsāri) or ツァー (tsā).


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## doman

Vietnamese:

Keiser : Đức hoàng (German), Áo hoàng (Austrian)...

Tsa : Sa hoàng, Nga hoàng (Russian)

Emperor : Hoàng đế


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## Outsider

In Portuguese, there are several words.

The German word *Kaiser*, untranslated, is normally used only for the monarchs of the German or Austrian Empires. _Imperador_ is frequently used as an alternative.

For the Tsar of Russia, we unoriginally say *czar*, sometimes _imperador_.

For emperors of prior centuries, *imperador*, from Latim _imperator_. This word is also used for the emperors of China and Japan.

The word *césar*, from Latin _Caesar_ (also a proper noun) is sometimes used for the period of the Roman Tetrarchy, and very occasionaly in other historical contexts.

The word *basileu*, from Greek _basileus_, is sometimes used for Byzantine emperors or Hellenic kings. However, _imperador_ is more often used for the former.


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## Whodunit

Chazzwozzer said:


> The word comes from Latin, _kaîsar_.


 
There's no such word (kaîsar) in Latin. Were you really referring to _Latin_ or to another language?



Frank06 said:


> I don't think I understand the question well. But we don't have a Dutch noun which goes back to 'imperator'.
> [edit: Any emperor, from Germany, Austria, China or Japan is called 'keizer' in Dutch]


 
What I meant is that the German term for "Kaiser" (emperor) is derived from a name of a Kaiser: Caesar. Tsar however is not derived from a person named Tsar. Emperor is not derived from a person named emperor. Do you see what I mean? 


I would like to add something about the German terms:

There's no other word for "emperor" than "Kaiser" in German. We use it for the Japanese (Tennô is only used in Japanese-related texts and is very rare; I doubt many German speakers would understand it), Chinese, Roman, German, ... emperor. The Russian tsar is called *Zar* in German.

From what I infer from your posts (thanks for them!), I would be understood in nearly any language (except in Vietnamese) so far if I used the term "Kaiser."


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## Chazzwozzer

Whodunit said:


> There's no such word (kaîsar) in Latin. Were you really referring to _Latin_ or to another language?


No, my bad. I actually wanted to mean Koine Greek.


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## Outsider

Whodunit said:


> What I meant is that the German term for "Kaiser" (emperor) is derived from a name of a Kaiser: Caesar. Tsar however is not derived from a person named Tsar.


The Russian word _tsar_ is also derived from Latin _Caesar_, actually.


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## gao_yixing

Ah...I forgot Kaiser can also means emperor of Austria or Austro-Hungary.
Then, it will be translated as 奥皇(ao huang)


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## Tolovaj_Mataj

Whodunit said:


> What I meant is that the German term for "Kaiser" (emperor) is derived from a name of a Kaiser: Caesar. Tsar however is not derived from a person named Tsar. Emperor is not derived from a person named emperor. Do you see what I mean?


I agree with you. So I'll start here.

In Slovene:

* the name of Julius Caesar is slovenized as _Julij Cezar_ (c like tz, e is narrow and longer)
* the emperor of the Holy Roman empire of German nationality is called _cesar_ (c like tz; e is wide and short; s is s, not z). Why the word has changed from German/Latin form to a modified medieval Church Latin form I don't know, but you must know that this emperor was the original emperor of our ethnic lands from the very beggining till 1918.
_Cesar_ is also a name for emperors of China, Japan, Ethiopia, etc.
* _car_ is tzar ie. emperor of Russia and medieval Serbia.


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## Jana337

The Czech pronunciation of Caesar is "César" (c = ts, é - long e). We call the almost all emperors "císař" (Holy Roman Empire, China, Japan) and emperors from Orthodox countries (Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia) "car". Female forms: Císařovna, carevna.

"Císař" is a common surname. One popular actor is called "Kaiser".


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## Chazzwozzer

To add, Turkish word *çar*_(tsar) _is only used for Russian emperors and Bulgarian kings.


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## Whodunit

Thanks again for your active participation. 



Outsider said:


> The Russian word _tsar_ is also derived from Latin _Caesar_, actually.


 
I wasn't sure about that. I know many etymology reference books see a connection of tsar to Caesar, but I thought it might just be a coincidence. 

By the way, in German the "C" in Caesar" is pronounced like the "ts" in "tsar." Nevertheless, "Kaiser" has a [k] sound.


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## Maja

In Serbian:

Caesar - cezar / цезар 
Tsar - car / цар.


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## María Madrid

Whodunit said:


> Following Outsider's idea, I don't want to give the English translation of "*Kaiser*" (German) to give English speakers the chance to contribute something to this thread. It's said to be that "Kaiser" is the earliest loan word from Latin Caesar.
> 
> From which (Latin) root does the word for "Kaiser" in your language come? Is there also some connection to a popular "Kaiser" (as in German), for Caesar was the Roman Kaiser?


 
In Spanish we use césar and kaiser with different meanings. César for Roman emperors and káiser (yes, we write it with an accent) for German and Austrian emperors and Bismarck and Michael Schumacher. Saludos,


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## OldAvatar

> emperors from Orthodox countries (Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia) "car". Female forms: Císařovna, carevna.



That's quite inadequate, isn't it? You wouldn't call a Greek or Eastern Roman king, for example, a "car (tsar)". Correct?


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## Jana337

OldAvatar said:


> That's quite inadequate, isn't it? You wouldn't call a Greek or Eastern Roman king, for example, a "car (tsar)". Correct?


Well, you are right - a ruler of the Byzantine Empire would be _císař _in Czech since the empire inherited the title from Rome, although a Slavicized name of Constantinopole is *Caři*hrad (we've had a thread about it).

But I am confused about your mentioning Greece: Is there a language in which Greek monarchs are called emperors? The topic of this thread is _Kaiser_, not _König/king_. Accordingly, I limited myself to emperors. I didn't mean to say that any Orthodox monarch is a _car_. For the Greece rulers, we would use the generic word for king, _král_. Here's a nomenclature of European monarchic titles.


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## OldAvatar

Jana337 said:


> Well, you are right - a ruler of the Byzantine Empire would be _císař _in Czech since the empire inherited the title from Rome, although a Slavicized name of Constantinopole is *Caři*hrad (we've had a thread about it).
> 
> But I am confused about your mentioning Greece: Is there a language in which Greek monarchs are called emperors? The topic of this thread is _Kaiser_, not _König/king_. Accordingly, I limited myself to emperors. I didn't mean to say that any Orthodox monarch is a _car_. For the Greece rulers, we would use the generic word for king, _král_. Here's a nomenclature of European monarchic titles.



I was just a bit surprised to see the word "car (tsar)" in relation with the Orthodoxy. Maybe it is, I don't argue on that. It is just that I find it surprising, at least.

Best regards


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## Q-cumber

*Царь *<tzar, czar>(от латинского — *«цезарь»* <origins from _latin_ Caesar> (титул римских императоров) <Roman emperors' title> 
официальное звание (титул) главы государства (монарха) в *России* (до 1917 г.) и *Болгарии* (до 1946 г.) <an official monarch's title in Russia and Bulgaria>. Царями принято называть и монархов древних государств <monarches of the ancient kingdoms also can be named tzars>  : Вавилонии, Ассирии, Китая, Индии, Персии, Греции, древнейшего Рима, эллинистического Египта и др. Титул «царь» равнозначен титулу «король» <"tzar, czar" is an equivalent of "king">, он является высшим (после «императора» — монархическим титулом.  
_(Historical Dictionary)_


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## Athaulf

Jana337 said:


> The Czech pronunciation of Caesar is "César" (c = ts, é - long e). We call the almost all emperors "císař" (Holy Roman Empire, China, Japan) and emperors from Orthodox countries (Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia) "car". Female forms: Císařovna, carevna.



But what is the Czech title of the Habsburg emperors? Do you use the title "císař" for them too?


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## Jana337

Athaulf said:


> But what is the Czech title of the Habsburg emperors? Do you use the title "císař" for them too?


Yes. Is it surprising?

This thread is very enlightening. I can't wait to read more replies.


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## Tolovaj_Mataj

María Madrid said:


> César for Roman emperors and káiser (yes, we write it with an accent) for German and Austrian emperors and Bismarck and Michael Schumacher. Saludos,


Khm...   A little bit of history. Otto von Bismarck was not a _kaiser _at all. He was a _kanzler_ (the president of the government). His boss and emperor was Wilhelm I, a king of Prusia (_König von Preußen_) and since 1871 a _Kaiser_ of the Second German _Reich_. 


About Schumacher...   don't forget Kaiser Franz.


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## María Madrid

Tolovaj_Mataj said:


> Khm...  A little bit of history. Otto von Bismarck was not a _kaiser _at all. He was a _kanzler_ (the president of the government). His boss and emperor was Wilhelm I, a king of Prusia (_König von Preußen_) and since 1871 a _Kaiser_ of the Second German _Reich_.
> 
> 
> About Schumacher...  don't forget Kaiser Franz.


Franz... what Franz? Sorry, no idea! Saludos,


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## Whodunit

Tolovaj_Mataj said:


> About Schumacher...  don't forget Kaiser Franz.


 
Well, this thread becomes even more interesting.  While we are at it, are there other uses of the word "Kaiser" in your language?

Indeed, we call Franz Beckenbauer "Kaiser Franz" and "Der Kaiser."


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## Athaulf

Jana337 said:


> Originally Posted by *Athaulf*
> But what is the Czech title of the Habsburg emperors? Do you use the title "císař" for them too?
> 
> 
> 
> Yes. Is it surprising?
Click to expand...


It sounded a bit strange to me initially because nowadays in Croatia we usually use _car_ for any imperial titles, including the Habsburgs. But then I remembered that _cesar_ is another archaic Croatian term for _emperor_, which was still used in its adjectival form in the last decades of the Monarchy as a  part of the official imperial title: _Njegovo *cesarsko* i kraljevsko apostolsko veličanstvo premilostivi kralj i *car*_. (I'm sure this sounds hilarious to other Slavic speakers. ) I have no idea when and how _car_ supplanted _cesar_ as the commonly used word. 

In Croatian, _cesar_ sounds very archaic now; many people probably wouldn't even understand the word out of context. _Cezar_ (with an essential difference in the third letter!) is sometimes used for Roman Emperors, but even in this context, _rimski car_ is much more frequent.


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## María Madrid

Whodunit said:


> Well, this thread becomes even more interesting.  While we are at it, are there other uses of the word "Kaiser" in your language?
> 
> Indeed, we call Franz Beckenbauer "Kaiser Franz" and "Der Kaiser."


Oh, I see... well I'm not as young as you are but maybe too old to know that...  Thanks for explaining!


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## Tolovaj_Mataj

Whodunit said:


> Well, this thread becomes even more interesting.  While we are at it, are there other uses of the word "Kaiser" in your language?
> 
> Indeed, we call Franz Beckenbauer "Kaiser Franz" and "Der Kaiser."


Sorry to be late.

No, we do not use the word Kaiser at all, maybe only in slang, when it is connected to specific German or Austrian.
But written as _Kajzer_ (pronounced the same way as Kaiser) is a surname, like many other noble titles (Cesar, Kralj - König/king, Knez - Fürst/prince, .. )

Talking about der Kaiser I immediatelly thought on Beckenbauer -  Schumacher who?


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## Abbassupreme

In Ancient Persia, the word for emperor (or rough equivalent) was "shâhanshâh" ("King of Kings"), with empire being "shâhanshâhi".  However, the word "emperâtur" is used to mean emperor, today, because that's the word I keep hearing in Persian, now.  "Empire" is either "emperâtur" again or "emperâturi", but I'm leaning in favor of the latter.  I want to say it's from French, what with all the French loanwords present in Persian, today, but it's probably just a direct Persianization of Latin's "imperator".


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## suslik

In Estonian: keiser


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## Whodunit

Tolovaj_Mataj said:


> Talking about der Kaiser I immediatelly thought on Beckenbauer - Schumacher who?


 
Google "Michael Schumacher" and convince yourself of his skills. 



Abbassupreme said:


> In Ancient Persia, the word for emperor (or rough equivalent) was "shâhanshâh" ("King of Kings"), with empire being "shâhanshâhi". However, the word "emperâtur" is used to mean emperor, today, because that's the word I keep hearing in Persian, now. "Empire" is either "emperâtur" again or "emperâturi", but I'm leaning in favor of the latter. I want to say it's from French, what with all the French loanwords present in Persian, today, but it's probably just a direct Persianization of Latin's "imperator".


 
And what about the word _Kaiser_ used in Persian? Is it understood and does it refer to Germany's _Kaisers_?

By the way, the word "emperor" got into the languages due to French influence on them, but this in turn comes from the Latin "imperator."


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## Alijsh

Abbassupreme said:


> In Ancient Persia, the word for emperor (or rough equivalent) was "shâhanshâh" ("King of Kings"), with empire being "shâhanshâhi". However, the word "emperâtur" is used to mean emperor, today, because that's the word I keep hearing in Persian, now. "Empire" is either "emperâtur" again or "emperâturi", but I'm leaning in favor of the latter. I want to say it's from French, what with all the French loanwords present in Persian, today, but it's probably just a direct Persianization of Latin's "imperator".


I don't think *shâhanshâh* is equivalent to *emperor*. It's a title. Wikipedia: "Shāhanshāh (Persian: شاهنشاه ) is a Persian monarchial title, literally meaning King of Kings." The ex-king of Iran was also called so. The Latin word for "emperor" was "imperator" from the root *imperare* "to command". So Persian translation of *emperâtur *is *farmânravâ* (farmân: command). Yes, I also think we have taken *emperâtur* directly from Latin.

The Middle Persian word for *Kaiser* is *Kēsar* which in New Persian became *Qēsar* and later *Qeysar*. It's similar to *Khosrow* (Chosroes) used by several Sassanian kings and the source for Arabic *kasrâ*. *Khosrow* is a Persian word and if I remember righly it literally meant "reputable".


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## übermönch

Q-cumber said:


> In Russian we use the same word "кайзер" (Kaiser). It means *German *(or *Austrian*) emperor. The word "Император" (emperor) has more general meaning and usually is being used in conjunction with a country (Empire) name - "Римский император" Roman emperor. There is no apparent link between Kaiser (кайзер) and Caesar (цезарь or кесарь) in Russian language.


Is there any difference between цезарь and кесарь or кесарь and царь?


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## Outsider

Alijsh said:


> I don't think *shâhanshâh* is equivalent to *emperor*. It's a title. [...]


"Shah" is often translated as "emperor" in European languages, nevertheless. I guess because the king of kings was the adversary of the Roman emperor for a long time (and occasionally in a very literal sense). 
This is not much different from translating the titles of the Chinese or the Japanses monarchs as "emperor".


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## cherine

Alijsh said:


> The Middle Persian word for *Kaiser* is *Kēsar* which in New Persian became *Qēsar* and later *Qeysar*. It's similar to *Khosrow* (Chosroes) used by several Sassanian kings and the source for Arabic *kasrâ*.


Tiny correction: The Arabic word is *kisra* (with only one "a", that's a long one).
The use of kisra, in Arabic, is reserved to Persian kings. We also use "shah" شاه , and you wouldn't find شاهنشاه used a lot, because many muslim scholars say that "the King of kings" is God, so we shouldn't give this title to any mortals.


Outsider said:


> "Shah" is often translated as "emperor" in European languages [...]
> This is not much different from translating the titles of the Chinese or the Japanses monarchs as "emperor".


In Arabic, we don't translate "Shah", we keep it as it is شاه 
The Tsar/Kaiser/Cesar of the Romans and Russia is qaysar قيصر
As for the word "emperor", the Arabic equivalent is imberator (long "a" and "o") إمبراطور which is clearly not an Arabic word.


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## Whodunit

übermönch said:


> Is there any difference between цезарь and кесарь or кесарь and царь?


 
I'm pretty sure that царь only refers to the "tsar" in some Slavic countries, whereas both кесарь and цезарь can be used for Caesar. There was a movie called "Аве цезарь" (= Hail Caesar), from which I infer that цезарь is the preferred form.


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## Q-cumber

übermönch said:


> Is there any difference between цезарь and кесарь or кесарь and царь?


*   Formally speaking, Цезарь (Caesar) isn't a title, but family (dynasty) name of first Roman emperors (supposedly origins from "caedo" - резать/cut). 
*  The old-russian (old slavic) word "Кесарь" is currently outdated. It means "владыка" or "монарх" (overlord or monarch). Origins from Greek "Kaisar"  (of lat. Caesar)
* Царь is an* official title* of Russian monarchs . The first tsar was Иван (Иоанн) IV "Грозный" - Ivan IV "the Rampant" (!? not sure about his English name). Пётр I Великий (Peter the First /"the Great") offically changed the title to "Император" (Emperor). Since then, all the Russian monarchs were called emperors and the title "Царь" was  only used unofficially.

Although all three above mentioned words origin from latin Caesar and their meanings are nearly similar, they are not interchangeable.


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## Outsider

Q-cumber said:


> *   Formally speaking, [...] (Caesar) isn't a title, but family (dynasty) name of first Roman emperors (supposedly origins from "caedo" ).


Emperor Diocletian made it a title in the third century. In the Byzantine Empire, successors to the throne were often called "cesars".

P.S. There's a Wikipedia page about this.


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## Q-cumber

*Outsider*

Yes, I generally agree with the topic's author. However, I was answering the particular question about the meaning of Russian word "Цезарь" [...].  In my opinion, it more likely means the Roman emperor's family name in Russian. That's why it normally begins from a capital letter.


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## Outsider

Oh, sorry! I misunderstood.


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## Nizo

In *Esperanto*, _cezaro_ (caesar) and _caro_ (czar/tsar) both come from the Latin _C__æsar_.  The generic term for an emperor is _imperiestro _(for example, _la imperiestro de Japanujo_). _Cezaro_ is only used to apply to the Roman Caesars and _caro_ is reserved for former rulers of countries such as Russia, Bulgaria and Serbia.


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## apmoy70

In Greek it's *«Καίσαρας»* [ˈce̞.s̠a.ɾas̠] (masc.) < Koine masc. *«Καῖσαρ» Kaîsăr*.

Ηοwever in the Roman East, the last Roman emperor who officially bore the title of Caesar was Licinius (308-324); in the coins of his era the title bestowed upon him is "CÆSARUM NOSTRORUM".

After Constantine the Great (who took over from Licinius) the title was officially changed to *Augustus* (or *«Αὔγουστος» Aúgoustos*) as it appears on his coins (CONSTANTINVUS AVG). And the empire back then was officially Latinophone.
After him, the title of Caesar in the Eastern Roman Empire was bestowed by the emperor upon the heir apparent, which in turn (roughly after Arcadius in the 390's-400's) it was too replaced by the Greek *«Συμβασιλεύς» Symbasileús* (Co-sovereign).

Heraclius (mid-7th c.), changed the title officially to the Greek *«Bασιλεύς» Basileús*.

In general, Caesar was never favoured for designating the Roman Emperor in the Eastern Roman Empire, Augustus -either translated as *«Σεβαστός» Sebastós* or transiterated as *«Αὔγουστος»*- was much more preferred, but then again, it was used for a short time.
After Heraclius, while the title of the emperor was «βασιλεύς» the title for the Empress remained *«Αὐγούστα» Augoústa* (it was preferred over the ancient and highbrowed *«βασίλισσα» basílissa*)


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