SULTAN (an Arabic word meaning " victorious " or " a ruler," sultat, dominion)  , a title o` honour borne by a great variety of rulers of very varying powers and importance in Mahommedan Africa and the East . The word has thus no exact equivalent in English, and was early imported into the language in the Middle English form of soudan (from old Fr. soudan, souldan) . This title is that conventionally applied by foreigners to the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, the sultan par excellence, whose proper styles are, however, padishah (emperor) and " commander of the faithful " (see AlIa) . The feminine form " sultana " is derived from the Italian (fern. of sultan) .