bashaw

Etymology

Variant of pasha, several forms or relatives of which start with /b-/, e.g. Arabic بَاشَا (bāšā).

noun

1. (now rare, historical) A pasha.
   The Bashaw notwithstanding drew together a partie of five hundred before his owne Pallace, where he intended to die […]. 1630, John Smith, True Travels, Kupperman, published 1988, page 44
   he fancies himself in company with beautiful women; he dreams that he is an emperor, or a bashaw, and that the world is at his nod. 1809, James Grey Jackson, An Account of the Empire of Marocco, London, page 79
   Insecure about his infirmity, the Bashaw decreed that all who desired to come into his presence must first submit to having their eyes put out. 1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 7
2. (archaic, often derogatory, by extension) A grandee.
3. A very large siluroid fish (Pylodictis olivaris) of the Mississippi valley; the goujon or mudcat.