dictator
English Edit
Alternative forms Edit
- dictatour (obsolete)
Etymology Edit
From Latin dictātor (“a chief magistrate”), from dictō (“dictate, prescribe”), from dīcō (“say, speak”).
Surface analysis is dictate + -or “one who dictates”.
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
dictator (plural dictators)
- A totalitarian leader of a country, nation, or government.
- 1971, Lyndon Johnson, “A Time of Testing: Crises in the Caribbean”, in The Vantage Point[1], Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 188:
- The Dominicans had lived for thirty years under the iron-fisted rule of dictator Leonidas Trujillo. During those years, which ended with Trujillo's assassination in 1961, those who opposed Trujillo had three choices: to go into exile, to go underground, or to remain quiet. Most Dominicans had chosen the third course.
- 2019, (Existential Comics), 29 January, 9:27 AM Tweet:
- Dictator, noun : someone who doesn't let American CEOs dictate how their country is run
- 2023 June 21, Trevor Hunnicutt, Ryan Woo, quoting Joe Biden, “China hits back after Biden calls Xi a 'dictator'”, in Reuters[2], archived from the original on 22 June 2023:
- "The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment in it was he didn't know it was there," Biden said.
"That's a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didn't know what happened. That wasn't supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course," Biden said.
- (history) 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.
- A tyrannical boss or authority figure.
- A person who dictates text (e.g. letters to a clerk).
Derived terms Edit
Related terms Edit
Translations Edit
totalitarian leader of a dictatorship
|
tyrannical boss, or authority figure
Dutch Edit
Etymology Edit
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
dictator m (plural dictatoren or dictators, diminutive dictatortje n)
- dictator (tyrant, despot)
- Synonyms: despoot, dwingeland, tiran
- (historical) dictator (Roman magistrate with expanded powers)
Related terms Edit
Latin Edit
Etymology Edit
From dictō (“I dictate”) + -tor.
Pronunciation Edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /dikˈtaː.tor/, [d̪ɪkˈt̪äːt̪ɔr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /dikˈta.tor/, [d̪ikˈt̪äːt̪or]
Noun Edit
dictātor m (genitive dictātōris); third declension
- an elected chief magistrate
- one who dictates.
Declension Edit
Third-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | dictātor | dictātōrēs |
| Genitive | dictātōris | dictātōrum |
| Dative | dictātōrī | dictātōribus |
| Accusative | dictātōrem | dictātōrēs |
| Ablative | dictātōre | dictātōribus |
| Vocative | dictātor | dictātōrēs |
Derived terms Edit
Related terms Edit
Descendants Edit
References Edit
- “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
- dictator in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- dictator in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[3], London: Macmillan and Co.
- to name a person dictator: dictatorem dicere (creare)
- a dictator appoints a magister equitum: dictator dicit (legit) magistrum equitum
- to name a person dictator: dictatorem dicere (creare)
- “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
Romanian Edit
Etymology Edit
Borrowed from French dictateur, Latin dictātor. Equivalent to dicta + -tor.
Noun Edit
dictator m (plural dictatori)