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Despotism - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Despotism : (noun)
1: dominance through threat of punishment and violence [syn: absolutism,
tyranny]
2: a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute
dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or
opposition etc.) [syn: dictatorship, absolutism, authoritarianism,
Caesarism, monocracy, one-man rule, shogunate, Stalinism,
totalitarianism, tyranny]
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Despotism : \Des"po*tism\, n. [Cf. F. despotisme.]
1. The power, spirit, or principles of a despot; absolute
control over others; tyrannical sway; tyranny. ``The
despotism of vice.'' --Byron.
2. A government which is directed by a despot; a despotic
monarchy; absolutism; autocracy.
Despotism . . . is the only form of government which
may with safety to itself neglect the education of
its infant poor. --Bp. Horsley.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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DESPOTISM, government. That abuse of government, where the sovereign power
is not divided, but united in the hands of a single man, whatever may be his
official title. It is not, properly, a form of government. Toull. Dr. Civ.
Fr. tit. prel. n. 32; Rutherf Inst. b. 1, c. 20, Sec. 1. Vide Tyranny;
Tyrant.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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