The word tsar is derived from the Latin title Caesar by way of the Old Slavonic tsesar (цесарь). The word is cognate with German Kaiser, Gothic káisar, Dutch keizer, Danish kejser, Swedish kejsare, and Norwegian keiser. The contraction of цесарь into царь occurred by the way of shorthand writing of titles in old Slavonic church manuscripts, see Titlo article. One may see the examples of this, e.g., in th ...

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