a three-tailed bashaw
Preserved but no longer current.
A beglerbeg or prince of princes among the Turks, who has a standard of three horse-tails borne before htm. The next rank is the bashaw with two tails, and then the bey, who has only one horse-tail.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “a three-tailed bashaw” mean?
A beglerbeg or prince of princes among the Turks, who has a standard of three horse-tails borne before htm. The next rank is the bashaw with two tails, and then the bey, who has only one horse-tail.
Is “a three-tailed bashaw” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.