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tyrannicida

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word tyrannicida

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Seneca the Elder
Ultimate origin
Latin tyrannus,caedō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin tyrannus
Latin tyrannicida

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ty.ran.nɪˈkiː.da][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ti.ran.niˈt͡ʃiː.da][1]

Forms

tyrannicīda m (genitive tyrannicīdae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin tyrannus (“tyrant”) + -cīda (“killer”),[2][1] with the second part from caedō (“to cut down, kill”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in the declamations of Seneca the Elder[4] and in Seneca's De ira,[3][5] meaning a person who kills a tyrant.[2]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Elder, Quintilian, Tacitus and Suetonius use it too,[3][4] of the slayer of the autocratic ruler of a Greek city or of any despot.[2] In Medieval Latin Roger Bacon uses it in his moral philosophy, after Seneca's De ira.[6] It passed into Italian as tirannicida.[7]

Timeline

  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it in the De ira.[3][5][8]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it in the Natural History.[3][5][8]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it several times.[3][8]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it in his life of Tiberius.[3][5][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who kills a tyrant, a tyrannicide.[2][3]

Word family

  • tyrannicīdium

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Tyrannicida.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/tyrannicida. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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