Definition of "voivode"

voivode

/ˈvɔɪˌvəʊd/

noun
plural voivodes
1. A local ruler or official in various parts of central and eastern Europe, especially early semi-independent rulers of Transylvania.
  Quotations
  George Sechell […], having been defeated in a battle by the Vayvoda of Transylvania, and taken Prisoner, was for three days together tied naked to a wooden horse, exposed to all manner of tortures, any man might devise against him […].
  1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 27, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […]
  Who was it but one of my own race who as Voivode crossed the Danube and beat the Turk on his own ground? This was a Dracula indeed!
  1897, Bram Stoker, “Jonathan Harker’s Journal—Continued”, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, page 32
2. An administrative chief in modern Poland.