despot的词源
英文词源
- despot
- despot: [16] The ultimate source of despot is Greek despótēs ‘lord’. It is related to Sanskrit dampati ‘master of the house’, and both probably go back to an Indo-European compound formed from *domo- ‘house’ (source of Latin domus ‘house’, and hence of English domestic) and another element related to Latin potis ‘able’ and English power. (Latin dominus ‘lord’, a derivative of domus ‘house’ and originally meaning ‘master of the house’, is a semantically parallel formation.) Greek despótēs was used for ‘lord, master’ or ‘ruler’ in various contexts, with no particular pejorative connotation (in modern Greek it means ‘bishop’).
But most rulers in ancient times enjoyed absolute power, and so eventually the word (which entered English via medieval Latin despota and early modern French despot) came to mean ‘tyrannical ruler’; this sense became firmly established at the time of the French Revolution.
=> domestic, dominion - despot (n.)
- 1560s, "absolute ruler," from Old French despot (14c.), from Medieval Latin despota, from Greek despotes "master of a household, lord, absolute ruler," from PIE *dems-pota- "house-master;" for first element see domestic (adj.); second element cognate with Latin potis, potens (see potent).
Faintly pejorative in Greek, progressively more so as used in various languages for Roman emperors, Christian rulers of Ottoman provinces, and Louis XVI during the French Revolution. The female equivalent was despoina "lady, queen, mistress," source of the proper name Despina.
中文词源
despot（暴君）：古希腊的“一家之主”
英语单词despot来自希腊语的despotes，本意是“一家之主、领主”。该词的前一半来自domestic（家庭的、国内的），后一半来自potent（有力的）。古希腊的一家之主对于家中成员和奴隶拥有绝对权威，因此despot一词含有“独裁、暴虐”的含义。在拜占庭帝国，despot曾被用于宫廷贵族的称号、诸侯国亲王的称号，甚至被用作拜占庭帝国皇帝的称号。现在，despot常用来表示那些独裁、暴虐的一国之主。
despot： ['despɒt] n.暴君，专制君主，独裁者
despotism： ['despətɪz(ə)m] n.独裁，专制，独裁政治
该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：despot 词源，despot 含义。
来自拉丁语despota, 来自PIE*dems-pota, 一家之主，dems, 家，词源同domicile. -pot, 权力，权威，词源同possible, potent. 引申词义绝对权力，暴君。
该词直接借自中世纪法语despot，但其终极词源乃希腊语despotes‘master’（主人）。当despot在16世纪首次用于英语时并不含它如今所含的贬抑词义，而是用以指“君主”（如拜占庭帝国、奥斯曼帝国的皇帝）或“（东正教的）主教”。1789年发生了法国大革命以后，人民反对专制要求民主的愿望使despot的词义开始贬降，逐渐蒙上一层贬义，所“现在despot一般释义为“专制君主”或“暴君”。
