Etymology

despotism

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Today it means: Government by a despot or despots: rule by a singular authority, either a single person or a tight-knit group, which rules with absolute power, especially in a cruel and oppressive way. Full definition →

French despotisme
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The story

  1. French · borrowed fromdespotisme
  2. English todaydespotism

From French despotisme; equivalent to despot + -ism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.