Etymologically
Log in

tyrannis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 14:51. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [tyˈran.nɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [tiˈran.nis][1]

Forms

tyrannis f (genitive tyrannidis); third declension[1] Besides tyrannidem the accusative has the Greek form tyrannida, and the genitive also tyrannidos.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τυραννίς (turannís, “absolute rule, tyranny”),[2][5][1] and Köbler refers it to tyrannus.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has it first,[6] of the position or rule of a tyrant in the Greek sense: in the De inventione he speaks of a man who had seized the tyranny among the people of Pherae in Thessaly.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is the rule of a Greek-style tyrant, as in Nepos, Livy and Ovid,[2] and Livy uses it once of the territory a tyrant rules.[2][4] It was also applied to any cruel and oppressive regime: in a letter Cicero writes vīvit tyrannis, tyrannus occidit, “the tyranny lives, the tyrant has fallen”,[3] and Sallust and Juvenal speak of the tyranny of Sulla and of Nero.[2] In the Historia Augusta it means a female ruler.[3][4][6]

Ecclesiastical Latin keeps the sense “tyranny”.[7] Medieval writers in Britain use it of a tyrant's rule, also figuratively, and of a single tyrannical act.[8] Italian tirannide continues the word.[9]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the rule of a tyrant.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of the territory ruled by a tyrant.[2][6]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust speaks of the tyranny of Sulla.[2][6]
  • 4th/5th century AD – The Historia Augusta uses it of a female ruler.[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The position or rule of a tyrant, absolute rule.[2][3]
  2. The territory ruled by a tyrant.[2][4]
  3. (transferred) Any cruel and oppressive regime, tyranny.[2][3]
  4. (Late Latin) A female ruler.[3][4]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A tyrannical act.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b 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
  9. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier