despot English · revision 995

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈdɛs.pɒt/, /ˈdɛz.pɒt/ ''(UK)''; /ˈdɛs.pət/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|despote]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|la-med|despota]],^(AHD)^(Etymonline) [[der|grc|δεσπότης|tr=despótēs|t=master of a household, lord]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from Proto-Indo-European ''*dems-pota-'' “master of the house”,^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from the root ''*dem-'' “house” and ''*poti-'' “lord”;^(Etymonline)^(AHD) compare Sanskrit ''dampati-'' “lord of the house”.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A title of a Christian ruler of a province under the Ottoman Empire, or of Byzantine rulers (1562 in the OED; 1585 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In English the word at first referred to Byzantine rulers and was often neutral,^(Etymonline) although it had been faintly pejorative in Greek, of a ruler of an unfree people.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) The sense of a ruler governing absolutely, without constitutional restraint, dates from 1611,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and the word became fully negative during the French Revolution, when it was applied to Louis XVI.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) By about 1800 it meant any tyrant or oppressor.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1562 – a Byzantine or Balkan title.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1611 – an absolute ruler.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1650 – ''despotic''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1727 – ''despotism''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1800 – any tyrant or oppressor.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A ruler with absolute, unlimited power; an [[autocrat]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person who uses power oppressively; a [[tyrant]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(history)'' A [[Byzantine]] emperor or prince, or a title given to members of the imperial family and to vassal rulers.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[despotic]]

+ * [[despotically]]

+ * [[despotism]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tyrant]]

+ * [[autocrat]]

+ * [[dictator]]

+ * [[domestic]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}