despot - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle French despote, from Old French despote, from Medieval Latin despota, from Ancient Greek δεσπότης (despótēs, “lord, master, owner”).[1] Cognate with Sanskrit दम्पति (dámpati).

despot (plural despots)

  1. A ruler with absolute power; a tyrant.
    • 2009, Steven Rosefielde, Red Holocaust, page 240:
      The Red Holocaust is best interpreted in this light as the bitter fruit of an[_sic_] utopian gambit that was socially misengineered into a dystopic nightmare by despots in humanitarian disguise.
  2. (historical) A title awarded to senior members of the imperial family in the late Byzantine Empire, and claimed by various independent or semi-autonomous rulers in the Balkans (12th to 15th centuries)

ruler with absolute power; tyrant

  1. ^ Fortson, Benjamin W. (2004), Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, first edition, Oxford: Blackwell

From Ancient Greek δεσπότης (despótēs, “lord, master”).

despot c (singular definite despoten, plural indefinite despoter)

  1. despot

Borrowed from Greek δεσπότης (despótis).

despot m (plural despoți)

  1. despot

dèspot m anim (Cyrillic spelling дѐспот)

  1. despot

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δεσπότης (despótēs).

despot c

  1. despot