Italian Word of the Day: Despota (tyrant / despot)

The word for a person (usually a king or ruler) who holds absolute power, and exercises it in a cruel or oppressive way, is despota in Italian. It comes from the Greek despótēs which was the word for the “master of the house”. In ancient Italian, the word ended in an -o rather than an -a.

/dè·spo·ta/ – [ˈdɛspota]
Italian word "despota"

Despota is a masculine and feminine noun, in that it can be used to indicate both male and female despots without any change in form. The only way to decipher the gender of the subject is to look at the definite and indefinite articles. In the plural form, the masculine ends with “i” while the feminine ends with “e”.

  • il / la despota = the despot
  • un / una despota = a despot
  • i despoti = the despots (masc. plural)
  • le despote = the despots (fem. plural)
  • dei despoti = (some) despots (masc. plural)
  • delle despote = (some) despots (fem. plural)
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Il re era riguardato come un despota assoluto.

The king was regarded as an absolute despot.


After the 7th century, despota was the honorary title of the Byzantine emperor and subsequently the title of the sovereign’s sons, brothers and siblings, not to mention some vassal princes. It was also one of the official titles of the Venetian doges. The modern usage of the word dates from the 18th century.

In a figurative sense, despota can refer to someone who abuses their authority at work or at home and expects to be blindly obeyed.

Il capo faceva il despota con i propri dipendenti.

The boss acted like a tyrant with his staff.



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