# τύραννος
## Ancient Greek
### Etymology

Perhaps a borrowing of a Lydian word for “king” or a similar word in another language of Asia Minor, possibly cognate with Proto-Celtic *tigernos (e.g., Gildas' phrase "superbo tyranno Vortigerno").
Compare Hittite [script needed] (šarawanaš), [script needed] (tarawanaš), Philistine 𐤈𐤓𐤍 (ṭrn, “lord, ruler”), Τυρρηνός (Turrhēnós, “Etruscan”), τύρσις (túrsis, “tower”) and Etruscan 𐌕𐌖𐌓𐌏𐌍 (turon, “mistress, lady”), a surname of Venus, which is probably related.
The Hittite term is a compound with first part possibly Phoenician 𐤑𐤓 (ṣr /⁠tzor⁠/, “Tyre”) and second part cognate to Ancient Greek ἄναξ (ánax), Mycenaean Greek 𐀷𐀙𐀏 (king) i.e., a king who donned the Tyrean purple.
Beekes argued for a Pre-Greek origin.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tý.ran.nos/ → /ˈty.ran.nos/ → /ˈti.ra.nos/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /tý.ran.nos/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /ˈty.ran.nos/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /ˈty.ran.nos/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /ˈty.ran.nos/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /ˈti.ra.nos/

### Noun

τῠ́ρᾰννος • (tŭ́rănnos) m or f (genitive τῠρᾰ́ννου); second declension
* absolute ruler (i.e. of gods, kings), initially applied to Lydian king Γύγης (Gúgēs)
* (with negative connotation) tyrant, dictator, despot

#### Derived terms

* οἰκοτῠ́ρᾰννος (oikotŭ́rănnos)
* τῠραννεύω (tŭranneúō)
* τῠραννέω (tŭrannéō)
* τῠραννίᾱ (tŭranníā)
* τῠραννῐκός (tŭrannĭkós)
* τῠραννίς (tŭrannís)
* τυραννοκτόνος (turannoktónos)

#### Descendants

* → Coptic: ⲧⲩⲣⲁⲛⲟⲥ (turanos)
* → Latin: tyrannus (see there for further descendants)
* → Lithuanian: tironas

### Adjective

τῠ́ρᾰννος • (tŭ́rănnos) m or f (neuter τῠ́ρᾰννον); second declension
* kingly, royal, regal
* imperious, despotic

#### Inflection
### References

* ↑ Gregory Nagy, Homer the Preclassic (→ISBN), page 363: Even the Greek usage of the word turannos 'tyrant' is relevant, since it represents the Lydian word for 'king'.
* 1 2 Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “tyrant”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* ↑ Codex Abrincencsis
* ↑ Nancy K. Sandars, The Sea Peoples: Warriors of the Ancient Mediterranean, 1250–1150 BC, Thames and Hudson, 1978
* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “τύραννος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1519-20

### Further reading

* “τύραννος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “τύραννος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* τύραννος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
* Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
* “τύραννος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
* Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited. autocrat idem, page 54.despot idem, page 217.despotic idem, page 217.imperial idem, page 420.imperious idem, page 420.king idem, page 469.kingly idem, page 470.lord idem, page 500.masterful idem, page 517.princely idem, page 641.princess idem, page 641.queen idem, page 664.queenly idem, page 664.regal idem, page 686.royal idem, page 724.ruler idem, page 726.tyrannical idem, page 905.tyrant idem, page 905.usurper idem, page 941.
* “τύραννος”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

## Greek
### Noun

τύραννος • (týrannos) m (plural τύραννοι)
* tyrant
* (historical) tyrant (an absolute ruler in ancient Greece)

#### Synonyms

* δεσπότης m (despótis)
* αγάς m (agás)

#### Related terms

* τυραννία f (tyrannía, “tyranny”)
* τυραννικός (tyrannikós, “tyrannical”)
* τυραννώ (tyrannó, “to tyrannise”)

### Further reading

* τύραννος on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia $^{el}$