Tyrant

Definition: Tyrant

Tyrant

Noun

1. A dictator or dictatorial person.

Date "tyrant" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Etymology: Tyrant \Tyr"ant\, noun. [Old English tirant, tiraunt, tyraunt, Old French tiran, tirant (probably from confusion with the personal pronoun of verbs), French tyran, Latin tyrannus, Greek, originally, an absolute sovereign, but afterwards, a severe or cruel ruler.]. (Websters 1913)

Domain	Definition
Literature	Tyrant did not originally mean a despot, but an absolute prince, and especially one who made himself absolute in a free state. Napoleon III. would have been so called by the ancient Greeks. Many of the Greek tyrants were pattern rulers, as Pisistratos and Pericles, of Athens; Periander, of Corinth; Dionysios the Younger, Gelon, and his brother Hiero, of Syracuse; Polycrates, of Samos; Phidion, of Argos, etc. etc. (Greek, turannos, an absolute king, like the Czar of Russia.) Tyrant of the Chersonese. Miltiade was so called, and yet was he, as Byron says, "Freedom's best and bravest friend." (See Thirty Tyrants.) A tyrant's vein. A ranting, bullying manner. In the old moralities the tyrants were made to rant, and the loudness of their rant was proportionate to the villainy of their dispositions. Hence to out-Herod Herod is to rant more loudly than Herod; to o'erdo Termagant is to rant more loudly than Termagant. (See Pilate, Voice.). Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

A tyrant (from Greek τυραννοσ) is one possessing absolute governmental power. In Classical Antiquity the word tyrant did not always have inherently negative implications; it merely designated anyone who assumed power for any period of time without a legitimate basis of authority.

The first to have the title of tyrant was Pisistratus in 560 BC.

In modern times tyrant has come to mean a dictator who rules with cruelty.

Bullying is a form of tyranny within a family, among schoolchildren, etc.

Synonyms: Tyrant

Synonyms: autocrat (n), despot (n). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Evil doer	Noun: evil doer, evil worker; wrongdoer; mischief-maker, marplot; oppressor, tyrant; destroyer, Vandal; iconoclast.
Master	Potentate; liege, liege lord; suzerain, sovereign, monarch, autocrat, despot, tyrant, oligarch.
Severity	Tyrant, disciplinarian, precisian, martinet, stickler, bashaw, despot, hard master, Draco, oppressor, inquisitor, extortioner, harpy, vulture; accipitres, birds of prey, raptorials, raptors.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	Why should I agree to swap one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away? (The Patriot; writing credit: Robert Rodat)
Movie/TV Titles	The Tyrant King (1968) How Cai Shu Subdued the Tyrant (1962) Tyrant of Red Gulch (1928) The Love Tyrant (1912) Taming a Tyrant (1911)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	I, Tyrant (reference) Milosevic: Portrait of a Tyrant (reference) The Tyrant (reference) The Tyrant (Golden Chronicles, Book 3) (reference) Tyrant of the Badlands (Accidental Detectives, 4) (reference) (more book examples)

Theater & Movies	Dragon Ball Z - Frieza - Fall of a Tyrant (reference) Dragonball Z Vol. 28: Frieza - Fall of a Tyrant (reference) Guimba the Tyrant (reference) The Warlords: Hitler - Portrait of a Tyrant (reference) (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music	Tyrant (reference) Tyrant 2: No Shoes / No Cake (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Author	Quotation
Aesop	Any excuse will serve a tyrant.
Emily Bronte	The tyrant grinds down his slaves and they don't turn against him, they crush those beneath them.
Euripides	An old man weds a tyrant, not a wife.
Lord Byron	A woman who gives any advantage to a man may expect a lover -- but will sooner or later find a tyrant.
Rochefoucauld	Old age is a tyrant, which forbids the pleasures of youth on pain of death.
Soren Kierkegaard	The tyrant dies and his rule ends, the martyr dies and his rule begins.
Thomas Fuller	Cruelty is a tyrant, that is always attended with Fear.
Virgil	Curst greed of gold, what crimes thy tyrant power has caused.
William Godwin	God Himself has no right to be a tyrant.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Author	Date	Quotation
John Locke	1690	And therefore a king governing in a settled kingdom, leaves to be a king, and degenerates into a tyrant, as soon as he leaves off to rule according to his laws. (Second Treatise of Government)
US Declaration of Independence	1776	A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. (reference)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Title	Author	Quote
Les Miserables	Hugo, Victor	I voted for the abolition of that tyrant.
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man	Joyce, James	The torment of fire is the greatest torment to which the tyrant has ever subjected his fellowcreatures.
Walden	Thoreau, Henry David	Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Lexicography	Devil's Dictionary	MAN, n. An animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks he is as to overlook what he indubitably ought to be. His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earh and Canada. When the world was young and Man was new, And everything was pleasant, Distinctions Nature never drew 'Mongst kings and priest and peasant. We're not that way at present, Save here in this Republic, where We have that old regime, For all are kings, however bare Their backs, howe'er extreme Their hunger. And, indeed, each has a voice To accept the tyrant of his party's choice. A citizen who would not vote, And, therefore, was detested, Was one day with a tarry coat (With feathers backed and breasted) By patriots invested. "It is your duty," cried the crowd, "Your ballot true to cast For the man o' your choice." He humbly bowed, And explained his wicked past: "That's what I very gladly would have done, Dear patriots, but he has never run." Apperton Duke
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
George Bush	1989-1993	Rather, we seek an Iraq that uses its great resources not to destroy, not to serve the ambitions of a tyrant, but to build a better life for itself and its neighbors.
George W. Bush	2001-2005	And we will not allow any terrorist or tyrant to threaten civilization with weapons of mass murder.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

"Tyrant" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Tyrant" is used about 170 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	100%	170	23,898

Expressions using "tyrant": family tyrant ♦ petty tyrant ♦ tyrant bird ♦ tyrant flycatcher ♦ tyrant shrike. Additional references.
Hyphenated Usage
	Beginning with "tyrant": tyrant-slayers.
	Ending with "tyrant": super-tyrant.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "tyrant"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		tiran (despot, oppressor, represser), despot (autocrat, despot). (various references)

Arabic		‏متعسف (abusive), ‏غاشم (brute, oppressive, wanton), ‏المستبد (autocrat, hector), ‏الطاغية. (various references)

Bulgarian		тиран (repressor), подтисник (oppressor), деспот (autocrat, despot, satrap). (various references)

Chinese		霸 (feudal chief, hegemon, lord, master, rhenium, rule by force, usurp), 暴君 (despot). (various references)

Czech		tyran (bully, despot, oppressor), krutovládce, despota (despot, oppressor). (various references)

Dutch		tiran, geweldenaar, dwingeland (despot). (various references)

Faeroese		valdsharri. (various references)

Farsi		حاکم ستمگریامستبد, سلطان ظالم , ستمگر (Atrocious, Cruel, Despot, Dispiteous, Oppressor, Tyrannous, Unjust). (various references)

Finnish		tyranni, julmuri (beast), hirmuvaltias (despot), hirmuhallitsija (despot). (various references)

French		tyran (tyran). (various references)

Frisian		twingboal. (various references)

German		Tyrann (bully, thug). (various references)

Greek		τύραννοσ (despot, oppressor), δεσπότησ (despot, mogul). (various references)

Hebrew		עריץ (despot, oppressor), רו�"ן (despot, dictator), � ו�'ש (oppressor, taskmaster). (various references)

Hungarian		zsarnok (absolute ruler, autocrat, bully, despot, dictator, oppressor, satrap, terrorist), kényúr (autocrat, despot, dictator, oppressor, satrap). (various references)

Indonesian		penganiaya (maltreater), firaun (pharaoh). (various references)

Italian		tiranno (anarch, oppressor, tyran). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		圧制者 (oppressor), 僭主 (usurper), 暴君 (despot), 専制君主 (absolute monarch, autocrat, despot). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		ぼうく�" (despot, marginal notes, one's deceased lord), せ�"しゅ (bow, earning the first, former master, late master, player, preoccupation, shipowner, slender hand, team, usurpation, usurper), せ�"せいく�"しゅ (absolute monarch, autocrat, despot), あっせいしゃ (oppressor). (various references)

Manx		tranlaasagh (despot, despotic, oppress, oppressive, oppressiveness, oppressor, persecute, persecutor, tyrannical, tyrannize, tyrannous), chenjagh (austere, exactor, extortionate, extortioner, oppressor). (various references)

Pig Latin		yranttay

Portuguese		tirano (despot, despotic, oppressor), déspota (despot, dictator, oppressor). (various references)

Romanian		tiran (bully, oppressor), zbir (brute, strop), cãlãu (butcher, executioner, hangman, headsman, jack ketch), autocrat (autocrat), asupritor (autocrat, exploiter, grinding, oppressing, oppressor). (various references)

Russian		тиран (despot), деспот (autocrat, czar, despot). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		tiranin (despot), silnik (oppressor, potentate), nasilnik (despot, rapist, satrap), despot (despot). (various references)

Spanish		tirano. (various references)

Swedish		tyrann (oppressor). (various references)

Turkish		tiran, zalim hükümdar, despot (autocratic, autocratical, despot, despotic, despotical). (various references)

Turkmen		zalym.Turkmen/English Dictionary 117. (various references)

Ukrainian		тиран (despot), деспот (despot). (various references)

Vietnamese		kẻo bạo ngược, bạo chúa. (various references)

Welsh		gormesydd (oppressor), gormeswr (oppressor). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Greek	700 BCE-300 CE	tyrannos. (various references)
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	tyrannus. (various references)
Avestan	200-600	sâsta, sâthrãm. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "tyrant": tyrants. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Tyrant" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: ayant, tarnat, Teoranta, thrant, Tiernan, tiran, tirane, tirant, tirrant, titrant, Tranto, trint, tryant, tryany, tryna, tyan, Tybalt, Tynant, tyra, tyrann, tyranno, tyrano, tyrans, tyrat, tyraunt, tyrrany. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "tyrant" (pronounced tī"runt)
4	-r u n t	aberrant, abhorrent, adherent, apparent, arrant, celebrant, coherent, Courant, declarant, deterrent, emigrant, entrant, errant, flagrant, fragrant, grandparent, hydrant, immigrant, incoherent, indifferent, inherent, migrant, parent, quadrant, recalcitrant, registrant, seafront, torrent, transparent, vagrant, vibrant, warrant.
3	-u n t	abandonment, abatement, abortifacient, absent, absorbent, abstinent, abundant, accelerant, accident, accompaniment, accomplishment, accountant, accouterment, achievement, acknowledgement, acknowledgment, adamant, adjacent, adjournment, adjustment, adjutant, adolescent, adornment, advancement, advertisement, advisement, afferent, affiant, affluent, agent, aggrandizement, agreement, ailment, alignment, allotment, amazement, ambient, ambivalent, amendment, amusement, ancient, announcement, annulment, antecedent, antidepressant, antigovernment, antioxidant, apartment, appeasement, applicant, appointment, apportionment, ardent, argent, argument, armament, arraignment, arrangement, arrogant, ascendant, aspirant, assailant, assessment, assignment, assistant, assortment, astonishment, astringent, atonement, attachment, attainment, attendant, banishment, basement, battlement, belligerent, bemusement, beneficent, benevolent, bereavement, betterment, bewilderment, blandishment, blatant, bombardment, brilliant, buoyant, claimant, clairvoyant, Clement, client, coefficient, cogent, cognizant, coincident, combatant, commandment, commencement, commitment, compartment, competent, complacent, complainant, complaisant, complement, compliant, component, comportment, concealment, concomitant, concurrent, condiment, confident, confinement, confluent, consequent, consignment, consistent, consonant, constant, constituent, consultant, containment, contaminant, contentment, contestant, continent, contingent, convalescent, convenient, convent, convergent, conversant, coolant, copayment, corespondent, cormorant, correspondent, covenant, Crescent, crosscurrent, current, curtailment, debarment, debasement, decadent, decedent, decent, decongestant, defendant, deferment, defiant, deficient, defoliant, delinquent, deodorant, department, dependent, deployment, deportment, depressant, derailment, descendant, descendent, despondent, detachment, detergent, determent, determinant, detriment, development, deviant, different, diligent, diminishment, disagreement, disappointment, disarmament, disbarment, disbursement, discernment, discordant, discouragement, disenchantment, disenfranchisement, disengagement, disestablishment, disgruntlement, disillusionment, disinfectant, disinvestment, dismantlement, dismemberment, disobedient, dispersant, displacement, dissident, dissonant, distant, divalent, divergent, divestment, docent, dominant, dormant, easement, ebullient, efferent, effervescent, efficient, effluent, elegant, element, elephant, eloquent, embankment, embarrassment, embayment, embellishment, embezzlement, embodiment, emergent, eminent, emplacement, employment, empowerment, enactment, encampment, enchantment, encirclement, encouragement, encroachment, endangerment, endearment, endorsement, endowment, enforcement, engagement, enhancement, enjoyment, enlargement, enlightenment, enlistment, enrichment, enrollment, enslavement, entanglement, entertainment, enticement, entitlement, entombment, entrapment, entrenchment, environment, equipment, equivalent, escapement, escarpment, esculent, establishment, estrangement, evanescent, evident, excellent, excitement, excrement, exigent, existent, exorbitant, expectant, expectorant, expedient, experiment, exponent, extant, extinguishment, extravagant, exuberant, exultant, Fabricant, fervent, figment, filament, flamboyant, flatulent, flippant, fluent, fluorescent, formant, fragment, fraudulent, frequent, fulfillment, gallant, garment, garnishment, giant, government, grandiloquent, harassment, hesitant, ignorant, immanent, imminent, impairment, impatient, impeachment, impediment, impertinent, implement, important, impotent, impoundment, impoverishment, impressment, imprisonment, improvement, imprudent, inadvertent, incandescent, incessant, incident, incipient, incitement, inclement, incompetent, inconsistent, incontinent, inconvenient, increment, incumbent, indecent, independent, indictment, indigent, indignant, indolent, inducement, indulgent, inefficient, infant, informant, infotainment, infrequent, infringement, ingredient, inhabitant, inhalant, innocent, inpatient, insignificant, insistent, insolent, insolvent, installment, instant, instrument, insufficient, insurgent, integument, intelligent, intercurrent, interdependent, intermittent, internment, intersegment, intolerant, intransigent, invariant, investment, involvement, iridescent, irrelevant, irreverent, irritant, itinerant, jubilant, judgement, judgment, latent, leant, lenient, lieutenant, ligament, litigant, lubricant, lucent, luminescent, luxuriant, magnificent, malevolent, malignant, maltreatment, management, measurement, merchant, micromanagement, militant, miscreant, misgovernment, misjudgment, mismanagement, misstatement, mistreatment, moment, monovalent, monument, mordant, movement, mutant, nascent, negligent, noncombatant, nonexistent, nongovernment, nonmanagement, nonpayment, nonresident, nonviolent, nourishment, nutrient, obedient, observant, obsolescent, occupant, odorant, ointment, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, operant, opponent, opulent, ornament, orpiment, outpatient, outplacement, overconfident, overpayment, overstatement, oxidant, pageant, parchment, parliament, participant, patent, patient, pavement, payment, peasant, penchant, pendant, penitent, pennant, percipient, permanent, persistent, pertinent, petulant, pheasant, pigment, piquant, placement, pleasant, pliant, poignant, pollutant, postponement, postretirement, potent, preadolescent, precedent, predicament, predominant, preeminent, pregnant, prejudgment, prepayment, prescient, present, presentment, prevalent, procurement, proficient, prominent, pronouncement, propellant, proponent, protestant, provident, prudent, prurient, pungent, punishment, pursuant, puzzlement, quiescent, quotient, radiant, rampant, readjustment, reagent, realignment, reappointment, reapportionment, rearmament, rearrangement, reassessment, reassignment, recent, recipient, recombinant, recruitment, recurrent, redeployment, redevelopment, redundant, reemployment, reenactment, refinement, refreshment, refrigerant, refurbishment, Regent, regiment, reimbursement, reinforcement, reinstatement, reinvestment, relevant, reliant, reluctant, reminiscent, remnant, repayment, repellent, repentant, replacement, replenishment, repugnant, requirement, resentment, resettlement, resident, resilient, resistant, resonant, resplendent, respondent, restatement, resultant, resurgent, retardant, reticent, retirement, retrenchment, reverent, rodent, rudiment, ruminant, sacrament, salient, sealant, sediment, segment, semipermanent, sentiment, Sequent, sergeant, serpent, servant, settlement, shipment, significant, silent, solvent, somnolent, stagnant, statement, stimulant, strident, stringent, student, subcontinent, subsequent, subservient, succulent, sufficient, supergiant, superintendent, supplement, supplicant, suppressant, surfactant, talent, tangent, temperament, tenant, tenement, testament, tetravalent, tolerant, tournament, transcendent, transient, translucent, treatment, trenchant, trident, triumphant, truant, truculent, tumescent, turbulent, undercurrent, underdevelopment, underemployment, undergarment, underpayment, understatement, unemployment, unimportant, unpleasant, unrepentant, urgent, vacant, valiant, variant, vehement, verdant, vigilant, violent, virulent, wonderment.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-n-r-t-t-y"
	-1 letter: natty, ratty, tarty.
	-2 letters: arty, nary, rant, tarn, tart, tray, yarn.
	-3 letters: ant, any, art, att, nay, ran, rat, ray, rya, tan, tar, tat, try, yar.
	-4 letters: an, ar, at, ay, na, ta, ya.
	Words containing the letters "a-n-r-t-t-y"
	+1 letter: tyrants.
	+2 letters: attorney, entreaty, natatory, tanistry, tenantry, truantry.
	+3 letters: antiparty, antistory, attorneys, certainty, contrasty, maternity, paternity, ternately, thyratron, yattering.
	+4 letters: centrality, fraternity, frontality, initiatory, interparty, invitatory, neutrality, quaternity, rattlingly, slatternly, stationary, stationery, thyratrons, tolerantly, transitory, tryptamine, tryptophan.
	+5 letters: actinometry, advertently, alternately, anticruelty, antigravity, antipoverty, antipyretic, antithyroid, attractancy, contrariety, countryseat, enteropathy, extenuatory, externality, fortunately, importantly, incantatory, integrality, internality, intractably, intricately, itinerantly, naturopathy, negotiatory, pertinacity, petitionary, prattlingly, protonotary, rationality, reluctantly, rentability, repentantly, resultantly, retinopathy, startlingly, stratifying, taciturnity, tapestrying, tetrahymena, thankworthy, tranquility, transiently, translatory, travestying, trenchantly, tryptamines, tryptophane, tryptophans, uncertainty, unutterably, ventilatory.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Expression	Frequency per Day	Expression	Frequency per Day
tyrant	60	hero tyrant hitler	3
tyrant dragon	54	band tyrant	3
dragon tyrant yugioh	7	evil pic resident tyrant	3
soviet tyrant	6	death tyrant	3
roman tyrant	5	dictator and tyrant	2
tiber tyrant	5	thirty tyrant	2
dragon gi oh tyrant yu	5	storm tyrant zoids	2
evil resident tyrant	4	cain the vampire tyrant	2
card dragon tyrant yugioh	3	guard tyrant	2
homonym mixed tyrant up	3	mind tyrant	2
		dj tyrant	2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Tyrant

Definition: Tyrant

Tyrant

Noun

Specialty Definition: Tyrant

Specialty Definition: Tyrant

Synonyms: Tyrant

Synonyms within Context: Tyrant

Evil doer

Master

Severity

Crosswords: Tyrant

Modern Usage: Tyrant

Screenplays

Movie/TV Titles

Commercial Usage: Tyrant

Books

Theater & Movies

Music

Image Slideshow: Tyrant

Illustrations:Tyrant

Computer Images:Tyrant

Familiar Quotations: Tyrant

Aesop

Emily Bronte

Euripides

Lord Byron

Rochefoucauld

Soren Kierkegaard

Thomas Fuller

Virgil

William Godwin

Historic Usage: Tyrant

John Locke

US Declaration of Independence

Use in Literature: Tyrant

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Joyce, James

Walden

Thoreau, Henry David

Non-Fiction Usage: Tyrant

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

Speeches: Tyrant

George Bush

George W. Bush

Usage Frequency: Tyrant

Expression: Tyrant

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Tyrant

Modern Translation: Tyrant

Albanian

Arabic

Bulgarian

Chinese

Czech

Dutch

Faeroese

Farsi

Finnish

French

Frisian

German

Greek

Hebrew

Hungarian

Indonesian

Italian

Japanese Kanji

Japanese Katakana

Manx

Pig Latin

Portuguese

Romanian

Russian

Serbo-Croatian

Spanish

Swedish

Turkish

Illustrations:
Tyrant

Computer Images:
Tyrant