kaymakam

English

Alternative forms

• qaimaqam, qaim maqam
• kaimakam; kaimacon, kaimacan, kaimakan, kaimacham, kaimacam (obsolete)
• caimacon, caimacan, caimakan, caimacham, caimacam, caimakam (obsolete)
• caimaicon, caimaican, caimaikan, caimaicham, caimaicam, caimaikam (obsolete)
• caymacon, caymacan, caymakan, caymacham, caymacam, caymakam (obsolete)
• chaimacon, chaimacan, chaimakan, chaimacham, chaimacam, chaimakam (obsolete)
• chaymacon, chaymacan, chaymakan, chaymacham, chaymacam, chaymakam (obsolete)

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish قایمقام (kaymakam), from Arabic مَقَام قَائِم (qāʔim maqām, “stand in”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kʌɪməˈkɑːm/

Noun

kaymakam (plural kaymakams)

1. A lieutenant or deputy in various Turkish contexts, particularly
   1. (politics, historical) An Ottoman official who acted as grand vizier and governor of Constantinople during any absence or illness of the incumbent.
      • 1645, James Howell, Epistolae Ho-elianae..., volume iii, page 87:

        He desird him to leave a charge with the Chimacham his Deputy.

   2. (politics, historical) An Ottoman official who acted as beylerbey of Egypt between regular appointments.
   3. (politics, historical) An Ottoman official who acted as hospodar of Moldavia or Wallachia during any absence or illness of the incumbent.
   4. (military, historical) A lieutenant colonel in the Ottoman or early Turkish army, replaced by the rank of yarbay.
   5. (politics, historical) Synonym of sanjakbey during the mid-19th century.
   6. (politics, historical) An Ottoman official who oversaw a kaza during the late 19th and early 20th centuries; similar positions in Ottoman successor states.
   7. (politics) A local administrator in Turkey, Northern Cyprus, Iraq, and Lebanon.

Coordinate terms

• wali, sanjakbey, mutasarrif, mudir
• kaza, kaymakamlik

Related terms

• kaymaˈkamlik

Translations

Various deputies or administrators in Turkish contexts

• Albanian: kajmekam (sq) m
• French: caïmakam
• Hungarian: kajmakám
• Ottoman Turkish: قایمقام (kaymakam)
• Romanian: caimacam (ro)
• Turkish: kaymakam (tr)

References

• “kaimakam, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “قائممقام”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[1], Constantinople: Mihran, page 941
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “kaymakam”, in Nişanyan Sözlük