president

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun One appointed or elected to preside over an organized body of people, such as an assembly or meeting.
• noun The chief executive of a republic.
• noun The chief executive officer of the United States, with powers as determined by the US Constitution.
• noun The chief officer of a branch of government, corporation, board of trustees, university, or similar body.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun An erroneous spelling of precedent.
• Presiding; directing; guiding; occupying the chief place or first rank.
• noun One who presides; one who superintends and directs the proceedings of others; a ruler; a ruling spirit.
• noun An officer elected or appointed to preside over and control the proceedings of others.
• noun The chief officer of a corporation, company, or society: as, the president of a railway company, or of a bank.
• noun The governing officer of a college or university.
• noun The highest officer of state in a modern republic. The President of the United States is chosen once in four years by presidential electors, who are elected by the people of the several States, the electors in every State being equal in number to the senators and representatives of the State in Congress. The action of the electors is a mere formality, as they always vote for the nominees of the national conventions of their party. The President is commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States when called into the service of the United States. He is authorized to grant reprieves and pardons for violation of United States laws (except in cases of impeachment), to make treaties with the concurrence of two thirds of the Senate, to recommend legislation, and to see that the laws are faithfully executed. His powers of appointment to office are partly provided for in the Constitution and partly statutory; his chief appointments (requiring confirmation by the Senate) are—cabinet officers and heads of bureaus or subdivisions, diplomatic and consular agents, federal judges, officers of territories, postmasters of the first, second, and third classes, and the principal officers of the army and navy. His salary is $50,000 a year. President was the title of the chief executive magistrate in New Hampshire from 1784 to 1792 (President of Council, 1776-84), in Pennsylvania from 1776 to 1790, in Delaware from 1776 to 1792, and in South Carolina from 1776 to 1778. Subsequently these titles were exchanged for that of governor. The President of the French republic is elected for seven years by the Senate and Chamber of Deputies united in National Assembly. The President of the Swiss Confederation is elected for one year by the Federal Assembly, from among the members of the Federal Council. Abbreviated Pres.
• noun A title given to the head of the Mormon hierarchy.
• noun A protector; a tutelary power; a patron.
• noun A kind of damask of silk, or silk and wool, used for upholstery.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun One who is elected or appointed to preside; a presiding officer, as of a legislative body.
• noun The chief officer of a corporation, company, institution, society, or the like.
• noun The chief executive officer of the government in certain republics.
• noun obsolete A protector; a guardian; a presiding genius.
• noun obsolete Precedent.
• adjective rare Occupying the first rank or chief place; having the highest authority; presiding.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The head of state of a republic, a representative democracy and sometimes (in cases of constitutional violations) a dictatorship.
• noun Primary leader of a corporation. Not to be confused with CEO, which is a related but separate position that is sometimes held by a different person.
• noun A person presiding over a meeting, chair, presiding officer, presider.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the officer who presides at the meetings of an organization
• noun the office of the United States head of state
• noun the person who holds the office of head of state of the United States government
• noun the chief executive of a republic
• noun the head administrative officer of a college or university
• noun an executive officer of a firm or corporation