Meanings
noundespot (plural despots)
plural despots
- historicalA title awarded to senior members of the imperial family in the late Byzantine Empire, and claimed by various independent or semi-autonomous rulers in the Balkans (12th to 15th centuries)
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekδεσπότης“lord, master, owner”
- Medieval Latindespota
- Old Frenchdespote
- Middle Frenchdespote
- Englishdespot
From Middle French despote, from Old French despote, from Medieval Latin despota, from Ancient Greek δεσπότης (despótēs, “lord, master, owner”). Cognate with Sanskrit दम्पति (dámpati).
More words from Middle French, Old French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic طَاغٍ, الطَاغِي
- طَاغٍ (ṭāḡin)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
- الطَاغِي (aṭ-ṭāḡī)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
- مُسْتَبِدّ (mustabidd)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
- ظَالِم (ẓālim)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
- طَاغِيَة (ṭāḡiya)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
Bulgarian де́спот
- де́спот (déspot)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
Catalan dèspota
- dèspotaruler with absolute power; tyrant
Chinese Mandarin 暴君, 霸王
- 暴君 (bàojūn)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
- 霸王 (bàwáng)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
Czech despota
- despotaruler with absolute power; tyrant
Danish despot
- despotruler with absolute power; tyrant
Dutch despoot
- despootruler with absolute power; tyrant
Esperanto despoto
- despotoruler with absolute power; tyrant
Estonian despoot
- despootruler with absolute power; tyrant
Finnish despootti
- despoottiruler with absolute power; tyrant
French despote
- despoteruler with absolute power; tyrant
German Despot, Despotin
- Despotruler with absolute power; tyrant
- Despotinruler with absolute power; tyrant
Greek δεσπότης
- δεσπότης (despótis)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
Hebrew רודן
- רודן (rodán)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
Hindi अधिनायक
- अधिनायक (adhināyak)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
Hungarian kényúr, zsarnok
- kényúrruler with absolute power; tyrant
- zsarnokruler with absolute power; tyrant
- despotaruler with absolute power; tyrant
Irish forlámhaí
- forlámhaíruler with absolute power; tyrant
Italian despota
- despotaruler with absolute power; tyrant
Japanese 暴君
- 暴君 (bōkun)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
Korean 폭군
- 폭군 (pokgun)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
Latin tyrannus
- tyrannusruler with absolute power; tyrant
Latvian despots
- despotsruler with absolute power; tyrant
Lithuanian despotas
- despotasruler with absolute power; tyrant
Norwegian Bokmål despot
- despotruler with absolute power; tyrant
Persian مستبد
- مستبد (mostabedd)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
Polish despota
- despotaruler with absolute power; tyrant
Portuguese déspota
- déspotaruler with absolute power; tyrant
Romanian despot
- despotruler with absolute power; tyrant
Russian де́спот
- де́спот (déspot)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
Slovak despota
- despotaruler with absolute power; tyrant
Spanish déspota
- déspotaruler with absolute power; tyrant
Swedish despot
- despotruler with absolute power; tyrant
Thai ทรราช
- ทรราช (tɔɔ-rá-râat)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
Turkish despot, diktatör
- despotruler with absolute power; tyrant
- diktatörruler with absolute power; tyrant
- müstebitruler with absolute power; tyrant
- mütegalliberuler with absolute power; tyrant
- tiranruler with absolute power; tyrant
- zorbaruler with absolute power; tyrant
Ukrainian де́спот
- де́спот (déspot)ruler with absolute power; tyrant
Vietnamese bạo quân, bá vương
- bạo quânruler with absolute power; tyrant
- bá vươngruler with absolute power; tyrant
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
despot. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/despot
MLA
“despot.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/despot. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “despot,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/despot.
Source: despot on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.