“Dragoman” can refer to any guide or interpreter, but traditionally it was a person who translated Middle Eastern languages and served as a guide for visiting Europeans. However, it was also an official title in the Ottoman Empire. From 1661 to 1822, the Ottoman government was represented to the West by various holders of the title Dragoman of the Sublime Porte. There were other forms of dragomans, but this one acted as both an interpreter and an assistant foreign minister. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, the tradition of the official dragoman disappeared and the term fell out of widespread use.