dictator

English

Alternative forms

• dictatour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin dictātor (“a chief magistrate”), from dictō (“dictate, prescribe”), from dīcō (“say, speak”).

Surface analysis is dictate +‎ -or (“(agent)”) “one who dictates”.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪkˈteɪtə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪkteɪtəɹ/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

Noun

dictator (plural dictators)

1. A totalitarian leader of a country, nation, or government
2. Originally, a magistrate without colleague in republican ancient Rome, who held full executive authority for a term granted by the senate (legislature), typically to conduct a war
3. A tyrannical boss, or authority figure
4. A person who dictates text (e.g. letters to a clerk)
5. A ruler or Führer, the highest level of authority.

Related terms

• dictate
• dictatorial
• dictatorship

Translations

totalitarian leader of a dictatorship

• Albanian: diktator (sq) m
• Arabic: دِكْتَاتُور‏‎ m (diktātūr)
• Armenian: բռնապետ (hy) (bṙnapet)
• Azeri: diktator
• Belarusian: дыкта́тар m (dyktátar)
• Bengali: একনায়ক (eknayôk)
• Breton: ^{(please verify)} diktatour m
• Bulgarian: дикта́тор (bg) m (diktátor)
• Burmese: အာဏာရှင် (my) (anahrang)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 獨裁者 (zh), 独裁者 (zh) (dúcáizhě)

• Czech: diktátor (cs) m
• Danish: diktator (da) c
• Dutch: dictator (nl) m
• Esperanto: diktatoro
• Estonian: diktaator
• Finnish: diktaattori (fi)
• French: dictateur (fr) m
• Galician: ditador (gl) m
• Georgian: დიქტატორი (dikṭaṭori)
• German: Diktator (de) m
• Greek: δικτάτορας (el) m (diktátoras)
• Hebrew: דִיקטָטוֹר / דיקטאטור‏‎ m (diktátor)
• Hindi: तानाशाह (hi) m (tānāśāh)
• Hungarian: diktátor (hu)
• Icelandic: einræðiherra m
• Irish: deachtóir (ga)
• Italian: dittatore (it) m
• Japanese: 独裁者 (どくさいしゃ, dokusaisha)
• Kazakh: диктатор (dïktator)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 독재자 (ko) (dokjaeja) (獨裁者 (ko))
• Kyrgyz: диктатор (ky) (diktator)

• Lao: ຜູ້ບົ່ງການ (phū bong kān), ຜູ້ຜະເດັດການ (phū pha det kān)
• Latin: dictator m
• Latvian: diktators m
• Lithuanian: diktatorius m
• Macedonian: дикта́тор m (diktátor)
• Malay: diktator
• Mongolian: дарангуйлагч (mn) (darangujlagč)
• Norman: dictateur m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: diktator m

• Persian: دیکتاتور‏‎ (fa) (diktâtor)
• Polish: dyktator (pl) m
• Portuguese: ditador (pt) m, ditadora f
• Romanian: dictator (ro) m
• Russian: дикта́тор (ru) m (diktátor)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: диктатор m

  Roman: diktator (sh) m

• Slovak: diktátor m
• Slovene: diktator (sl) m
• Spanish: dictador (es) m, dictadora f
• Swahili: dikteta (sw)
• Swedish: diktator (sv) c
• Tagalog: diktador
• Tajik: диктатор (diktator)
• Thai: ผู้มีอำนาจ (pûu-mii-am-nâat), จอมบงการ (jɔɔm-bong-gaan), จอมเผด็จการ (jɔɔm-pà-dèt-gaan)
• Turkish: diktatör (tr)
• Turkmen: diktator
• Ukrainian: дикта́тор m (dyktátor)
• Uzbek: diktator (uz)
• Vietnamese: kẻ độc tài, nhà độc tài
• Yiddish: דיקטאַטאָר‏‎ m (diktator)

tyrannical boss, or authority figure

• Finnish: diktaattori (fi)
• Greek: δικτάτορας (el) m (diktátoras)
• Portuguese: ditador (pt) m

• Russian: дикта́тор (ru) m (diktátor)
• Swahili: dikteta (sw)
• Swedish: diktator (sv) c, envåldshärskare c

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

dictator m (plural dictatoren or dictators, diminutive dictatortje n)

1. dictator (bossy senses)

Synonyms

• despot
• dwingeland
• tiran

Related terms

• dictaat
• dictatoriaal
• dictatuur

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Latin

Etymology

dictō (“I dictate”) +‎ -tor

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /dikˈtaː.tor/, [dɪkˈtaː.tɔr]

Noun

dictātor m (genitive dictātōris); third declension

1. an elected chief magistrate
2. one who dictates.

Inflection

Third declension.

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	dictātor	dictātōrēs
genitive	dictātōris	dictātōrum
dative	dictātōrī	dictātōribus
accusative	dictātōrem	dictātōrēs
ablative	dictātōre	dictātōribus
vocative	dictātor	dictātōrēs

Derived terms

• dictātōrius
• dictātrīx
• dictātūra

Related terms

• dīcō
• dictāmen
• dictāta
• dictātiō
• dictātiuncula
• dictiō

• dictiōsus
• dictitō
• dictō
• dictum
• dictus

Descendants

• Catalan: dictador
• English: dictator
• French: dictateur
• Italian: dittatore
• Polish: dyktator

• Portuguese: ditador
• Romanian: dictator
• Russian: дикта́тор (diktátor)
• Spanish: dictador

References

• dictator in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• dictator in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• du Cange, Charles (1883), “dictator”, in G. A. Louis Henschel, Pierre Carpentier, Léopold Favre, editors, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (in Latin), Niort: L. Favre
• “dictator” in Félix Gaffiot’s Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette (1934)
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to name a person dictator: dictatorem dicere (creare)
    
  • a dictator appoints a magister equitum: dictator dicit (legit) magistrum equitum
    
• dictator in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• dictator in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowing from French dictateur, Latin dictator.

Noun

dictator m (plural dictatori)

1. dictator

Related terms

• dictatură
• dictat
• dicta