means A pharaoh was a ruler of ancient Egypt, regarded not merely as a king but as a living divine figure central to the state and its religion.

from The word travels a long road: Egyptians called the royal palace per-aa, literally "great house." Over time the name of the house came to stand for the person living in it — much as we say "the White House" to mean a president. Hebrew scripture borrowed the term as par'oh, Greek reshaped it into pharaō, and through the Greek Bible it reached Latin and eventually English. So the title that now means "god-king" began, humbly, as a building.