Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Old French
Origin: despote, from Greek despotes 'lord'

despot

 noun
     
des‧pot [countable]
PGO someone, especially a ruler, who uses power in a cruel and unfair way [= tyrant]
—despotic adjective
—despotically adverb
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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