Vozhd

A vozhd (romanised from Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian: вождь, also Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbo-Croatian: вожд, romanized: vožd,^[a] Czech: vůdce, Polish: wódz, Slovak: vodca, or Slovene: vodja), literally meaning "the guidesperson" or "the leader", is a historical title with etymology deriving from the Proto-Slavic *voďь and thus common across Slavic languages. It originally denoted a chieftain of a tribe, whereas upon rise of statehood it was used thereafter also in the context of a supreme leader and/or supreme commander, in particular when both roles were combined in one person.

In most Slavic languages the official and colloquial usage of the designation has nowadays been discontinued in favor of (at least) two more precise derivates, one meaning "a leader" and another one "a commander" (e.g., in Polish: przywódca and dowódca, respectively); therefore, the original term may typically be encountered exclusively in historical or ironic contexts; otherwise occasionally only when referring to extant foreign tribal communities.
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