tyrant
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English tyraunt, tiraunt, tyrant, tyrante, from Old French tyrant, from the addition of a terminal -t to tiran (cp. French tyran) via a back-formation related to the development of French present participles out of the Latin -ans form, from Latin tyrannus (“despot”), from Ancient Greek τύραννος (túrannos, “usurper, monarch, despot”), of uncertain origin.
Inflected forms:
form: tyrants
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: tyran
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: A usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession.
pos: noun
tags: historical
examples: To proue him Tyrant, this reason may suffice, That Henry liueth still.
The reappearance of tyranny [in the 4th century BC] had many reasons... one of the main causes was the development of antagonism between rich and poor; tyrants came to power exploiting a social and political imbalance within the state.
Ancient Greek tyrannies appeared once more in great numbers with the breakdown of the polis in the period from the fourth to the second centuries [BC]. These later tyrannies tended to rely on a more narrow class base and to use a brutal military rule, and thus writers could use the words tyrant and tyranny, with their modern connotations of evil and cruelty, to describe them accurately.
gloss: Any monarch or governor.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
examples: Cassius... set tyrants over all Syria.
gloss: A despot; a ruler who governs unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
pos: noun
examples: Tyrannes...be but Gods scourges which he will cast into the fyre when he hath done with them.
I am the Sonne of Marcus Cato, hoe.
A Foe to Tyrants, and my Countries Friend.
Here is a Proclamation for a Prince: that proclaims him in whoſe name it is emitted [James II of England], to be the greateſt Tyrant that ever lived in the world, and their Revolt who have diſowned him to be the juſteſt that ever was.
They [viz., the Framers of the American Constitution] held England to be the freest and best-governed country in the world, but were resolved to avoid the weak points which had enabled King George III. to play the tyrant, and which rendered English liberty, as they thought, far inferior to that which the constitutions of their own States secured.
gloss: Any person who abuses the power of position or office to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
examples: A plague vpon the Tyrant that I serue
[…] a sad tyrant, as my friends the Democrats sometimes are.
gloss: A villain; a person or thing who uses strength or violence to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
examples: I was a blasphemar, and a persecuter, and a tyraunt.
A pike (called the tyranne of fishes).
O dissembling Curtesie! How fine this Tyrant Can tickle where she wounds?
Public opinion, the greatest tyrant of these times.
gloss: The tyrant birds, members of the family Tyrannidae, which often fight or drive off other birds which approach their nests.
pos: noun
examples: The Tyrant... The courage of this little Bird is singular.
The lesser tyrants (Tyrannulae) are spread over the whole of America, where they represent the true flycatcher... The tyrants are bold and quarrelsome birds, particularly during the season of incubation.
Tyrant or Tyrant-bird, Catesby applied it solely to...the King-bird..., but apparently as much in reference to its bright crown...as to its tyrannical behaviour to other birds.
Related words: tyranness
tyrannical
tyrannicide
tyrannize
tyrannous
tyranny
tyrantry
tyrantship
Derived words: black-backed water tyrant
chat-tyrant
ground tyrant
pygmy tyrant
shrike-tyrant
tit-tyrant
tody-tyrant
tyrancy
tyrant-air
tyrant-bird
tyrant-chat
tyrant-craft
tyrantess
tyrant-fish
tyrant flycatcher
tyrant-hater
tyrant-hating
tyranthood
tyrant-killer
tyrant-killing
tyrant-kind
tyrantless
tyrantlike
tyrant-manakin
tyrant-murder
Tyrant period
tyrant-queller
tyrant-quelling
tyrant-ridden
tyrant-scouraging
tyrant-shrike
tyrant-slayer
tyrant-tamer
tyrant-wren
wagtail-tyrant
Translations:
lang: Catalan
word: tirà
lang: Finnish
word: tyranni
lang: Middle English
word: tyraunt
lang: Russian
word: тира́н
roman: tirán
lang: Spanish
word: tirano