δεσπότης — meaning in English

English meaning

• autocrat noun A ruler who holds complete and unlimited power.
• despot noun A ruler who holds total power and often uses it cruelly or unfairly; a tyrant.
• lord noun A man who holds a title of nobility, or a ruler with power over others.

Senses

δεσπότης is used for these senses in English:

• autocrat An absolute ruler with infinite power.
• despot A ruler with absolute power; a tyrant.
• lord One possessing similar mastery over others; (historical) any feudal superior generally; any nobleman or aristocrat; any chief, prince, or sovereign ruler; in Scotland, a male member of the lowest rank of nobility (the equivalent rank in England is baron)

autocrat — full definition

1. noun A ruler who holds complete and unlimited power.
2. noun A royal title once used by certain monarchs, for example in Byzantium and in tsarist Russia.
3. noun Before the 1900s, an admiring term for a ruler seen as above petty conflicts and marked out by dignity and power.

Related Greek words