tyrant
English
/ˈtaɪɹənt/
noun
Definitions
- (historical) A usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession.
- (obsolete) Any monarch or governor.
- A despot; a ruler who governs unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
- (by extension) Any person who abuses the power of position or office to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
- (by extension) A villain; a person or thing who uses strength or violence to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
- The , members of the family Tyrannidae, which often fight or drive off other birds which approach their nests.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English tyraunt derived from Old French tyrant derived from Latin tyrannus (tyrant, monarch, despot, ruler) derived from Ancient Greek τύραννος (tyrant, absolute ruler, master, sovereign, despot, usurper, king, lord, monarch).
Origin
Ancient Greek
τύραννος
Gloss
tyrant, absolute ruler, master, sovereign, despot, usurper, king, lord, monarch
Concept
Semantic Field
Social and political relations
Ontological Category
Person/Thing
Kanji
主
Emoji
Timeline
Distribution of cognates by language
Geogrpahic distribution of cognates
Cognates and derived terms
- tyranness English
- tyrantess English
- tyrannicida Latin
- tyrannicidium Latin
- tyrannus Latin
- Tyrann German
- tiran Dutch, Flemish
- tyran French
- tyranneau French
- tirano Spanish, Castilian
- τυραννέω Ancient Greek
- τυραννίς Ancient Greek
- τυραννεύω Ancient Greek
- τύραννος Ancient Greek
- tyrann Norwegian Bokmål
- tyran Polish
- tyranozaur Polish
- tyrann Norwegian Nynorsk
- tirannye Middle English
- tyraundise Middle English
- tyraunt Middle English
- tyrauntly Middle English
- tyrauntrie Middle English
- tyran Danish
- tirant Old French
- tyrant Old French
- tirano Esperanto
- tirano Old Portuguese
- Zhuchengtyrannus Chinese
- ⲧⲩⲣⲁⲛⲟⲥ Coptic
- súsk'i Zuni