Difference between revisions of "Tyrant - tyrannous"

Latest revision as of 19:36, 24 August 2015

The noun tyrant and its related adjective tyrannous look the same and share their origin and meaning - but they are pronounced differently.

• The noun 'a tyrant' has a first vowel like that of 'tire', 'line' and 'sign': 'TIRE-ant', IPA: /ˈtaɪr ənt/.
• In the adjective tyrannous, the first vowel is like that in 'sit', 'fit' and 'bit': 'TIRR-en-es', IPA: /ˈtɪr ən əs/. The same is true of other words derived from tyrant:
  • tyrannical, (pronounced with the stress on the second syllable which has a vowel liked that of 'hat' and 'Anne', IPA: /tɪr ˈæn ɪk əl/) is an adjective meaning 'in the manner of a tyrant';
  • tyrannize, (pronounced IPA: /ˈtɪr ən aɪz/)a verb meaning 'to behave like a tyrant', and in particular 'to rule harshly over'; and
  • tyranny, an abstract noun (pronounced IPA: /ˈtɪr ən ɪ/) meaning 'the rule of a tyrant', 'bullying behaviour typical of a tyrant', or in the most general and least emotional sense, 'the form of government characterised by an autocratic ruler'.
  • tyrannicide abstract noun (pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, IPA: /tɪr ˈæn ɪ saɪd/), a noun meaning the crime of, or a person committing the crime of, killing a tyrant'. (Some republicans regard this action as no crime. The Tyrannicide Brief, by Geoffrey Robertson, published in 2005 by Chatto & Windus in London, recounts the trials first of Charles I, in 1649, which led to his execution; and second of the prosecutor, John Cooke in 1660 (after the Restoration) on a charge of high treason, which led in turn to his execution.)

• • Etymological note: The meaning of tyrant can be confusing. It has certainly changed over time. It is a Greek word whose general sense is 'an individual exercising the power of government'. Kings in the modern sense (hereditary monarchs) were more usually called basileus. (It may be better in earlier texts, such as Homer, to translate basileus as 'chieftain' or 'prince'; the higher-ranked monarchs, 'High Kings', are represented by the Greek anax.) The word tyrant dates back as far as the
    • 7th century BCE, when (τὑραννοι - tyrannoi) were absolute rulers who had usurped power, although by and large for the good of the city-states over which they ruled. This was the 'Age of the Tyrants' in the 7th and 6th centuries BC.
    • Until the earlier part of the classical period, the word (τὑραννος‚ turannos) did not have the negative connotations of our word 'tyrant'. (It is this meaning that can be seen in the original title Oedipous tyrannos of the Sophocles tragedy now usually called by its Latin name, Oedipus Rex.)
    • Later, with the establishment of democracy in (some of) the Greek cities, the word did begin to acquire negative connotations. For example, Aristotle in his classification of types of constitution in Politics III 7 contrasts kingship (basileia), which he defines as the rule of one person in the common interest and one of the good types of constitution, with 'tyranny' (turannis), which he defines as the rule of one person in his own interest and one of the bad or 'deviant' types of constitution. So turannis for Aristotle clearly has negative connotations - although his definition of turannis doesn't quite fit our 'tyranny'.

Tyrant (and its derivatives) now have only negative connotations. OED has as meaning 3. "A king or ruler who exercises his power in an oppressive, unjust, or cruel manner; a despot"; and as 4.: "Any one who exercises power or authority oppressively, despotically, or cruelly; one who treats those under his control tyrannically."