tyranny
nounUS /ˈtɪəɹəni/ · /ˈtɪɹəni/
Etymology Inherited from Middle English tirannye, from Old French tyrannie, from Medieval Latin tyrannia, tyrania, from Ancient Greek τυραννία (turannía, “tyranny”), from τύραννος (túrannos, “lord, master, sovereign, tyrant”).
1
A government in which a single ruler (a tyrant) has absolute power, or this system of government; especially, one that acts cruelly and unjustly.
2
The office or jurisdiction of an absolute ruler.
3
Absolute power, or its use.
4
A system of government in which power is exercised on behalf of the ruler or ruling class, without regard to the wishes of the governed.
- He that with ſhepheards and a litle ſpoyle, Durſt in diſdaine of wrong and tyrannie, Defend his freedome gainſt a Monarchie: What will he doe ſupported by a king?c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene i:
- Control, dispossession, violence, and tyranny are not “defensive”: they are part of an organized, ongoing aggression.2019 April 28, Hagai El-Ad, “What kind of democracy deports human rights workers?”, in Yoni Molad, transl., +972 Magazine:
5
Extreme severity or rigour.
- Synonyms
- autocracy, despotism, dictatorship, absolute monarchy, tyranthood
- Derived terms
- anarchotyranny, anarcho-tyranny, turnkey tyranny, tyrannical, tyrannise, tyrannist, tyrannize, tyranny of the majority, tyranny of the masses