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agha

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a⋅gha

[ah-guh]
–noun
aga.

a⋅ga

[ah-guh]
–noun (in Turkey and other Muslim countries)
1. a title of honor, usually implying respect for age.
2. a general.
Also, agha.


Origin:
1590–1600; < Turk ağa lord
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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a·ga also a·gha   (ä'gə, āg'ə)   
n.  Used as a title for a civil or military leader, especially in Turkey.

[Turkish aa, from Old Turkic aqa, older brother.]
a·gha   (ä'gə, āg'ə)   
n.  Variant of aga.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

agha

in Turkey, person of high rank or social position, especially during the era of the Ottoman Empire. Combined with the names of military units or administrative departments, it formed the official titles borne by the chief officers of the Janissaries and of the cavalry, by the principal members of the imperial household, and by the eunuchs who controlled the sultan's harem. Later it was applied to officers of lower rank and, socially, as a term of respect, to heads of families and villages and to landowners. In republican Turkey the official title disappeared, the social use of the word surviving only among the lower classes.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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