tyranny

tyr·an·ny  (tr-n)

n. pl. tyr·an·nies

1. A government in which a single ruler is vested with absolute power.

2. The office, authority, or jurisdiction of an absolute ruler.

3. Absolute power, especially when exercised unjustly or cruelly: "I have sworn . . . eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man" (Thomas Jefferson).

4.

a. Use of absolute power.

b. A tyrannical act.

5. Extreme harshness or severity; rigor.

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[Middle English tyrannie, from Old French, from Late Latin tyrannia, from Greek turanni, from turannos, tyrant.]

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tyranny [ˈtɪrənɪ]

n pl -nies

1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy)

a.  government by a tyrant or tyrants; despotism

b.  similarly oppressive and unjust government by more than one person

2. arbitrary, unreasonable, or despotic behaviour or use of authority the teacher's tyranny

3. any harsh discipline or oppression the tyranny of the clock

4. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a political unit ruled by a tyrant

5. (Historical Terms) (esp in ancient Greece) government by a usurper

6. a tyrannical act

[from Old French tyrannie, from Medieval Latin tyrannia, from Latin tyrannus tyrant]

tyrannous  adj

tyrannously  adv

tyrannousness  n

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	tyranny - a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.) dictatorship, monocracy, one-man rule, shogunate, Stalinism, totalitarianism, authoritarianism, Caesarism, despotism, absolutism autocracy, autarchy - a political system governed by a single individual police state - a country that maintains repressive control over the people by means of police (especially secret police)
	2.	tyranny - dominance through threat of punishment and violence absolutism, despotism ascendance, ascendancy, ascendence, ascendency, dominance, control - the state that exists when one person or group has power over another; "her apparent dominance of her husband was really her attempt to make him pay attention to her"

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tyranny

noun oppression, cruelty, dictatorship, authoritarianism, reign of terror, despotism, autocracy, absolutism, coercion, high-handedness, harsh discipline, unreasonableness, imperiousness, peremptoriness I'm the sole victim of her tyranny.
understanding, democracy, ease, mercy, relaxation, tolerance, leniency, laxity, liberality

Quotations
"Tyranny is always better organised than freedom" [Charles Péguy Basic Verities]

Translations

tyranny [ˈtɪrənɪ] N (lit, fig) → tiranía f

tyranny [ˈtɪrəni] n → tyrannie f

tyranny

n (lit, fig) → Tyrannei f, → Tyrannenherrschaft f; he ruled by tyranny → er führte eine Tyrannenherrschaft

tyranny [ˈtɪrənɪ] n → tirannia