Etymologically
Log in

tyrannicida

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 00:54. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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