δεσπότης

• δεσπότᾱς (despótās) — Doric

From Proto-Hellenic *déspotis, an original phrase from Proto-Indo-European *déms pótis (“master of the house”), from *dṓm (“house”), whence also Ancient Greek δόμος (dómos, “house”); and *pótis (“master”), whence also Ancient Greek πόσις (pósis, “husband”); with an ending influenced by -της (-tēs, masculine adjectival suffix). Cognate with Sanskrit दम्पति (dám-pati, “lord of the house”).^[1]

δεσπότης • (despótēs) m (genitive δεσπότου); first declension (Attic, Koine)

1. master, lord (most commonly in the context of one who owns slaves)
2. ruler, despot
3. generally: owner

Accusative singular in the Ionic dialect is sometimes δεσπότεα (despótea).

• Greek: δεσπότης (despótis)
  • → Romanian: despot

Borrowings

• → Medieval Latin: despota
  • → Old French: despote
    • Middle French: despote
      • French: despote
        • → Dutch: despoot
      • → English: despot
  • → German: Despot
    • → Hungarian: despota
  • → Italian: despota
    • → Spanish: déspota

Unsorted borrowings

• → Albanian: despot
• → Belarusian: дэспат (despat)
• → Bulgarian: деспот (despot)
• → Catalan: dèspota
• → Czech: despota
• → Danish: despot
• → Estonian: despoot
• → Finnish: despootti
• → Georgian: დესპოტი (desṗoṭi)
• → Latvian: despots
• → Lithuanian: despotas
• → Macedonian: деспот (despot)
• → Norwegian: despot
• → Polish: despota
• → Portuguese: déspota
• → Russian: деспот (despot)
• → Serbo-Croatian: despot, деспот
• → Slovak: despota
• → Slovene: despota
• → Swedish: despot
• → Ukrainian: деспот (despot)

• “δεσπότης”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “δεσπότης”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• δεσπότης in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• δεσπότης in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• G1203 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • autocrat idem, page 54.
  • despot idem, page 217.
  • king idem, page 469.
  • lord idem, page 500.
  • master idem, page 517.
  • ruler idem, page 726.
  • taskmaster idem, page 856.
  • tyrant idem, page 905.

From Ancient Greek δεσπότης (despótēs).

• IPA^(key): /ðesˈpotis/
• Hyphenation: δε‧σπό‧της

δεσπότης • (despótis) m (plural δεσπότες)

1. despot, tyrant (ruler with absolute power)

   Όταν πήρε εξουσία, ονόμασε τον εαυτό του δεσπότη.

   Ótan píre exousía, onómase ton eaftó tou despóti.

   When he took power, he named himself as despot.

2. (religion) bishop

   Την ευλογία σου, δέσποτα!

   Tin evlogía sou, déspota!

   Your blessing, please, Bishop!

3. (religion) Lord (term of address for God)

   Ευλόγησον, δέσποτα!

   Evlógison, déspota!

   Bless us, O Lord!

4. (historical) despot (title of a Byzantine regional ruler)
5. master, ruler

The irregular singular forms derived from Ancient Greek are also found: δεσπότου (despótou) and δέσποτα (déspota).

• (tyrant): τύραννος m (týrannos), αγάς m (agás)
• (bishop): επίσκοπος m (epískopos)

• αδέσποτος (adéspotos, “ownerless, stray”)
• δεσπόζω (despózo, “dominate”)
• δεσποινίς m (despoinís, “Miss”)
• δέσποτας m (déspotas)
• δεσποτάτο n (despotáto)
• δεσποτεία f (despoteía, “despotism”)
• δεσποτισμός m (despotismós, “despotism”)
• δεσποτικός (despotikós, “despotic”)
• οικοδεσπότης m (oikodespótis, “host”)
• πυργοδεσπότης m (pyrgodespótis)
• υποδεσπόζουσα f (ypodespózousa, “dominant -chord-”, participle and noun) (music)

• → Romanian: despot