8 results for: Tyrant

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ty·rant

Audio Help [tahy-ruh

–noun

1.	a sovereign or other ruler who uses power oppressively or unjustly.

2.	any person in a position of authority who exercises power oppressively or despotically.

3.	a tyrannical or compulsory influence.

4.	an absolute ruler, esp. one in ancient Greece or Sicily.

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME tirant < OF < L tyrannus < Gk týrannos

]

—Synonyms 1. despot, autocrat, dictator.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Tyrant

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ty·rant Audio Help (tī'rənt) Pronunciation Key
n.

An absolute ruler who governs without restrictions.
A ruler who exercises power in a harsh, cruel manner.
An oppressive, harsh, arbitrary person.

[Middle English, from Old French, alteration of tyran, from Latin tyrannus, from Greek turannos.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
tyrant

1297, "absolute ruler," from O.Fr. tyrant (12c.), from L. tyrannus "lord, master, tyrant" (cf. Sp. tirano, It. tiranno), from Gk. tyrannos "lord, master, sovereign, absolute ruler," a loan-word from a language of Asia Minor (probably Lydian); cf. Etruscan Turan "mistress, lady" (surname of Venus).

"In the exact sense, a tyrant is an individual who arrogates to himself the royal authority without having a right to it. This is how the Greeks understood the word 'tyrant': they applied it indifferently to good and bad princes whose authority was not legitimate." [Rousseau, "The Social Contract"]

The spelling with -t arose in O.Fr. by analogy with prp. endings in -ant. Fem. form tyranness is recorded from 1590 (Spenser); cf. M.L. tyrannissa (1372).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

tyrant
noun
1.	a cruel and oppressive dictator
2.	in ancient Greece, a ruler who had seized power without legal right to it
3.	any person who exercises power in a cruel way; "his father was a tyrant"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version) - Cite This Source - Share This
tyrant [ˈtairənt] noun

a cruel and unjust ruler
Example: The people suffered under foreign tyrants.

Arabic:	مُسْتَبِد، ظالِم، طاغِيَه، جائِر
Chinese (Simplified):	专制统治者, 暴君
Chinese (Traditional):	專制統治者, 暴君
Czech:	tyran
Danish:	tyran
Dutch:	tiran
Estonian:	türann
Finnish:	tyranni
French:	tyran
German:	der, *die Tyrann(in)
Greek:	τύραννος
Hungarian:	zsarnok
Icelandic:	harðstjóri
Indonesian:	tirani
Italian:	tiranno

Japanese:	暴君
Korean:	압제자
Latvian:	tirāns
Lithuanian:	tironas, despotas
Norwegian:	tyrann
Polish:	tyran
Portuguese (Brazil):	tirano
Portuguese (Portugal):	tirano
Romanian:	tiran
Russian:	тиран
Slovak:	tyran, despota
Slovenian:	tiran
Spanish:	tirano
Swedish:	tyrann
Turkish:	zorba

See also: tyranny, tyrannical, tyrannize, tyrannise

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Tyrant

Ty"ran\, n. [See Tyrant.] A tyrant. [Obs.]

Lordly love is such a tyran fell. --Spenser.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Tyrant

Ty*ran"nic\ (?; 277), Tyrannical \Ty*ran"nic*al\, a. [L. tyrannicus, Gr. ?: cf. F. tyrannique. See Tyrant.] Of or pertaining to a tyrant; suiting a tyrant; unjustly severe in government; absolute; imperious; despotic; cruel; arbitrary; as, a tyrannical prince; a tyrannical master; tyrannical government. "A power tyrannical." --Shak.

Our sects a more tyrannic power assume. --Roscommon.

The oppressor ruled tyrannic where he durst. --Pope. -- Ty*ran"nic*al*ly, adv. -- Ty*ran"nic*al*ness, .

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