Sultan to as a sultanate ( "). The term is distinct from king ( "), despite both referring to a sovereign ruler. The use of "sultan" is restricted to Muslim countries, where the title carries religious significance, contrasting the more secular "king", which is used in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. A feminine form of "sultan", used by Westerners, is Sultana or Sultanah and this title has been used legally for some (not all) Muslim women monarchs and sultan's mothers and chief consorts. However, Turkish and Ottoman Turkish also uses "sultan" for imperial lady, as Turkish grammar—which is influenced by Persian
Valide sultan reigning sultan who assumed the title Valide Sultan. The word "valide" (والده) literally means "mother" in Ottoman Turkish, from Arabic. The Turkish pronunciation of the word "valide" is . Sultan (سلطان) is an Arabic word originally meaning "authority" or "dominion". By the beginning of the 16th century, this title, carried by both men and women of the Ottoman dynasty, was replacing other titles by which prominent members of the imperial family had been known (notably "hatun" for women and "bey" for men). Consequently, the title "valide hatun" (title for living mother of reigning Ottoman sultan before 16th century) also turned