δεσπότης

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• δεσπότᾱς (despótās) — Doric

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /des.pó.tɛːs/ → /ðesˈpo.tis/ → /ðesˈpo.tis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /des.pó.tɛːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /desˈpo.te̝s/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ðesˈpo.tis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ðesˈpo.tis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ðesˈpo.tis/

Noun

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

Inflection

First declension of ὁ δεσπότης; τοῦ δεσπότου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ δεσπότης ho despótēs	τὼ δεσπότᾱ tṑ despótā	οἱ δεσπόται hoi despótai
Genitive	τοῦ δεσπότου toû despótou	τοῖν δεσπόταιν toîn despótain	τῶν δεσποτῶν tôn despotôn
Dative	τῷ δεσπότῃ tôi despótēi	τοῖν δεσπόταιν toîn despótain	τοῖς δεσπόταις toîs despótais
Accusative	τὸν δεσπότην tòn despótēn	τὼ δεσπότᾱ tṑ despótā	τοὺς δεσπότᾱς toùs despótās
Vocative	δέσποτᾰ déspota	δεσπότᾱ despótā	δεσπόται despótai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

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

Derived terms

• ἀδέσποτος (adéspotos)
• δεσποτικός (despotikós)
• δεσποτέω (despotéō)
• δεσποτεία (despoteía)
• φιλοδέσποτος (philodéspotos)
• οἰκοδεσπότης (oikodespótēs)
  • οἰκοδεσποτέω (oikodespotéō)

Related terms

• δεσπόζω (despózō)
• δέσποινα (déspoina) (feminine form)
• δεσπότις (despótis)

Descendants

• Greek: δεσπότης (despótis)
• Latin: despota
  • Old French: despote
    • English: despot
• Russian: де́спот (déspot)

Further reading

• “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^[1], 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.

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Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek δεσπότης (despótēs).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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

Declension

Declension of δεσπότης

	singular	plural
nominative	δεσπότης •	δεσπότες •,  δεσποτάδες •
genitive	δεσπότη •	δεσποτών •,  δεσποτάδων •
accusative	δεσπότη •	δεσπότες •,  δεσποτάδες •
vocative	δεσπότη •	δεσπότες •,  δεσποτάδες •
The irregular singular forms derived from Ancient Greek are also found: δεσπότου (despótou) and δέσποτα (déspota).

Synonyms

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

Related terms

• 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)