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Tyrant vs Lord - What's the difference?

tyrant | lord |

As a noun tyrant

is (historic|ancient greece) a usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession.

As an adjective tyrant

is (uncommon) tyrannical, tyrannous; like, characteristic of, or in the manner of a tyrant.

As a verb tyrant

is (obsolete) to act like a tyrant; to be tyrannical.

As a proper noun lord is

.

tyrant

English

(wikipedia tyrant) (Tyrant flycatcher) (Tyrannidae)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (historic, ancient Greece) A usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession.
  • * (Robert Mannyng), , 51:
  • A bastard no kyngdom]] suld hald Bot if he it wan... Of tirant or of [[Saracen, Sarazin.
  • * , III v 59:
  • A tyraunt þat]] was kyng of [[Sicily, sysile.
  • * , III iii 71:
  • To proue]] him Tyrant , this reason may suffice, That Henry [[liveth, liueth still.
  • * 1980 , Michel Austin & al., Economic and Social History of Ancient Greece , 142:
  • The reappearance of tyranny [in the 4th century BC] had many reasons... one of the main causes was the development of antagonism between rich and poor; tyrants came to power exploiting a social and political imbalance within the state.
  • * 1996 , Roger Boesche, Theories of Tyranny, from Plato to Arendt , 4:
  • Ancient Greek tyrannies appeared once more in great numbers with the breakdown of the polis in the period from the fourth to the second centuries [BC]. These later tyrannies tended to rely on a more narrow class base and to use a brutal military rule, and thus writers could use the words tyrant'' and ''tyranny , with their modern connotations of evil and cruelty, to describe them accurately.
  • (obsolete) Any monarch or governor.
  • * Richard Rolle, Psalter , XXXII 10:
  • Princes, þat]] is,... tirauntis of [[world, warld.
  • * 1382 , (w, Wycliffe's Bible), I 3:
  • The sonys]] of Yrael, and of the [[king's, kyngus bloode, and the children of tyrauntis .
  • * 1737 , William Whiston translating (Josephus), (History of the Jewish Wars) , I xii §2:
  • Cassius... set tyrants over all Syria.
  • A despot; a ruler who governs unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
  • * 1297 , , Chronicle , 7689:
  • To hom]] [[withsaid, wiþsede strong tirant & wilde.
  • * John Fortescue, Works , 453:
  • Whan]] a Kyng rulith his Realme onely to his own profytt, and not to the good of his Subgetts, he [[is, ys a Tyraunte .
  • * 1587 , Philip Sidney and Arthur Golding, A woorke concerning the trewnesse of the christian religion , translating Philippe De Mornay, XII 196:
  • Tyrannes ...be but Gods]] scourges which he will cast into the [[fire, fyre when he hath done with them.
  • * , V iv 5:
  • I am the Sonne]] of Marcus Cato, hoe.
    A Foe to Tyrants , and my [[country's, Countries Friend.
  • * 1888 , James Bryce, The American Commonweath , I iv 42:
  • They [ to play the tyrant , and which rendered English liberty, as they thought, far inferior to that which the constitutions of their own States secured.
  • (by extension) Any person who abuses the power of position or office to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
  • * in the South-English Legendary (MS Laud 108), I 128:
  • Ore]] louerd helpe weren alle is [[few, fon!
  • * (William Shakespeare), (The Tempest) , II ii 161:
  • A plague vpon]] the Tyrant that I [[serve, serue
  • * 1817 , Mary Mitford in Alfred L'Estrange, The life of Mary Russell Mitford (1870), II i 2
  • a sad tyrant , as my friends the Democrats sometimes are.
  • (by extension) A villain; a person or thing who uses strength or violence to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
  • * 1377 , William Langland, (Piers Plowman) , I 199:
  • Attache]] þo tyrauntz ...And fettereth fast falsenesse...And gurdeth of gyles [[hid, hed.
  • * William Dunbar, Poems , 95:
  • That strang]] [[unmerciful, vnmercifull tyrand [Death].
  • * 1526 , (w, Tyndale's Bible), I 13:
  • I was a blasphemar, and a persecuter, and a tyraunt .
  • * 1528 , Thomas Paynell translating Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano, Regimen Sanitatis Salerni :
  • A pike (called the tyranne of fishes).
  • * (William Shakespeare), (The Tragedie of Cymbeline) , I i 85:
  • O dissembling Curtesie! How fine this Tyrant Can tickle where she wounds?
  • * 1847 , A. Helps, Friends in Council , I viii 132:
  • Public opinion, the greatest tyrant of these times.
  • The tyrant birds, members of the family , which often fight or drive off other birds which approach their nests.
  • * 1731 , Mark Catesby, The natural history of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands , I 55:
  • The Tyrant ... The courage of this little Bird is singular.
  • * Swainson, Penny Cyclopaedia , XXI 415 2:
  • The lesser tyrants' (''Tyrannulæ'') are spread over the whole of America, where they represent the true flycatcher... The ' tyrants are bold and quarrelsome birds, particularly during the season of incubation.
  • * 1895 , Alfred Newton, A Dictionary of Birds :
  • Tyrant or Tyrant-bird, Catesby applied it solely to...the King-bird..., but apparently as much in reference to its bright crown...as to its tyrannical behaviour to other birds.

    Synonyms

    * (Greek ruler) archon, basileus, aisymnetes * (unjust or strict ruler or superior) autocrat, dictator, despot, martinet * (bird) tyrant bird, tyrant flycatcher, tyrant shrike, king bird, bee martin

    Derived terms

    * tyrant-air * tyrant-bird * tyrant-chat * tyrant-craft * tyrantess (female form ) * tyrant-fish * tyrant-flycatcher * tyrant-hater * tyrant-hating * tyrant-killer * tyrant-killing * tyrant-kind * tyrant-like * tyrant-murder * Tyrant period * tyrant-queller * tyrant-quelling * tyrant-ridden * tyrant-scouraging * tyrant-shrike * tyrant-slayer * tyrant-tamer * tyrant-wren

    Adjective

    (head)
  • (uncommon) Tyrannical, tyrannous; like, characteristic of, or in the manner of a tyrant.
  • * 1297 , Robert of Gloucester, Chronicles , 8005:
  • Milce nas þer mid him [King William] non...Ac as a tirant tormentor in speche]] & ek in [[deed, dede.
  • * John Rastell, Pastyme of People
  • He was most tirant & cruell of all emperours.
  • * (William Shakespeare), (As you Like it) , I ii 278:
  • Thus must I from the smoake]] into the smother,
    From tyrant' Duke, [[unto, vnto a ' tyrant Brother.
  • * 1775 , Abigail Adams, letter in Familiar Letters of John Adams and his wife Abigail Adams, during the Revolution (1876), 124:
  • ...a reconciliation between our no longer parent state, but tyrant state, and these colonies.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To act like a tyrant; to be tyrannical.
  • (Fuller)

    lord

    English

    (Lord)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (label) The master of the servants of a household; (label) the master of a feudal manor
  • *c. 950 , (Lindisfarne Gospels), Matt. xxiv. 46
  • *:Eadig ðe]] ðone miððy cymes hlaferd his on-fand sua [[doing, doende.
  • *1611 , (King James Bible), Matt. xxiv. 46
  • *:Ble??ed]] is that finde [[so, ?o doing.
  • *1600 , (William Shakespeare), , iii. ii. 167 ff.
  • *:Por . ...But now, I was the Lord
  • *:of this faire man?ion]], of my [[servants, ?eruants,
  • *:Queene]] oer [[myself, my ?elfe...
  • *1794 , E. Christian in (William Blackstone), (Commentaries on the Laws of England) , II. 418
  • *:Lords of manors are distinguished from other land-owners with regard to the game.
  • #(label) The male head of a household, a father or husband.
  • #*831 , charter in Henry Sweet, The oldest English texts , 445
  • #*:Ymbe ðet lond et cert ðe hire eðelmod hire hlabard salde.
  • #*1594 , (William Shakespeare), "(The Rape of Lucrece)"
  • #*:...thou worthie Lord ,
  • #*:Of that vnworthie]] wife that [[greets, greeteth thee
  • #*c. 1591 , (William Shakespeare), (The Taming of the Shrew) (1623), v. ii. 131 f.
  • #*:Pet. Katherine , I charge thee, tell the?e]] [[head-strong, head-?trong women,
  • #*:What dutie]] they doe owe their Lords and [[husbands, hu?bands!
  • #*1611 , (King James Bible), Gen. xviii. 12
  • #*:Therefore Sarah laughed within her ?elfe]], , my lord being old [[also, al?o?
  • #*1816 , (Jane Austen), , III. xvi. 300
  • #*:Yes, here I am, my good friend; and here I have been so long, that anywhere else I should think it necessary to apologise; but, the truth is, that I am waiting for my lord and master.
  • #(label) The owner of a house, piece of land, or other possession
  • #*ante'' 1300 , ''Cursor Mundi , 601 f.
  • #*:Als]] oure lauerd has [[heaven, heuen in hand
  • #*:Sua]] [[should, suld man be lauerd of land.
  • #*1480 , Waterford Archives in the 10th Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (1885), App. v. 316
  • #*:All suche lordes as have gutters betuxte]] [[their, thar houses.
  • #*ante'' 1637 , (Ben Jonson), ''Sad Shepherd , ii. i. 36
  • #*:A mightie Lord of Swine!
  • #*1697 , (John Dryden) translating (Publius Virgilius Maro)'s Æneis , xii
  • #*:Turnus...
  • #*:Wrench'd from his feeble hold the shining Sword;
  • #*:And plung'd it in the Bosom of its Lord .
  • #*1874 , J. H. Collins, Principles of Metal Mining (1875), Gloss. 139/2
  • #*:Lord''''', the owner of the land in which a mine is situated is called the ‘' lord ’.
  • One possessing similar mastery over others; (label) any feudal superior generally; any nobleman or aristocrat; any chief, prince, or sovereign ruler
  • *c. 893 , Orosius's History , i. i. §13
  • *:Ohthere sæde his hlaforde , Ælfrede cyninge, þæt...
  • * 1530 , John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement , 680/1
  • It is a pytuouse]] case... whan subjectes rebell [[against, agaynst their naturall lorde .
  • * 1667 , (John Milton), (Paradise Lost) , xii. 70
  • Man over men He made not Lord .
  • # (label) A feudal tenant holding his manor directly of the king
  • # A peer of the realm, particularly a temporal one
  • #* ante 1375 , William of Palerne (1867), l.4539
  • To fare out as fast with his fader to speke, & with lordesse of þat]] [[land, lond.
  • #* ante'' 1420 , T. Hoccleve, ''De Regimine Principum , 442
  • Men myghten lordis knowe
  • By there]] arraye, from [[other, oþir folke.
  • #* 1453 , Rolls of Parliament, V. 266/2
  • If such persone bee of the estate of a Lord , as Duc]], Marques, Erle, Viscount or [[baron, Baron.
  • #* 1597 , (William Shakespeare), (The life and death of King Richard the Second) , iv.i.18
  • Princes, and noble Lords :
  • What an?wer]] I make to this [[base, ba?e man?
  • #* 1614 , J. Selden, Titles of Honor , 59
  • Our English name Lord , whereby we and the Scots stile]] all such as are of the Greater [[nobility, Nobilitie i. Barons, as also Bishops.
  • #* 1900 July 21, Daily Express , 5/7
  • The Englishman of to-day still dearly loves a lord .
  • # A baron or lesser nobleman, as opposed to greater ones
  • #* 1526 , W. Bonde, Pylgrimage of Perfection , i. sig. Bviiiv
  • Farre]] excellyng the state of lordes , erles, dukes or [[kings, kynges.
  • #* 1826 , (Benjamin Disraeli), Vivian Grey , II. iii. iii. 26
  • The Marquess played off the two Lords and the Baronet against his former friend.
  • One possessing similar mastery in figurative senses (esp. as lord of ~)
  • * ante'' 1300 , ''Cursor Mundi , 782
  • O wityng bath]] [[good, god and ill ?ee suld be lauerds at ?our will.
  • * 1398 , John Trevisa translating Bartholomew de Glanville's De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495), viii. xvi. 322
  • The sonne]] is the lorde of [[planets, planetes.
    1697 , (John Dryden) translating (Publius Virgilius Maro) as (Georgics) , iii
    Love is Lord of all.
  • * 1992 November 18, (Larry David), (Seinfeld) , 4.11: "(The Contest)":
  • But are you still master of your domain?
    I am king of the county. You?
    Lord of the manor.
  • # The magnates of a trade or profession
  • #* 1823 , W. Cobbett, Rural Rides (1885), I. 399
  • Oh, Oh! The cotton Lords are tearing!
  • (label) The heavenly body considered to possess a dominant influence over an event, time,
  • * (Geoffrey Chaucer), Treatise on the Astrolabe , ii. §4:
  • The assendent]], & eke the lord of the assendent, may be shapen for to be fortunat or infortunat, as thus, a fortunat assendent clepen they whan hows of the [[ascendant, assendent.
  • A hunchback.
  • *1699 , B.E., A new dictionary of the terms ancient and modern of the canting crew :
  • Lord , a very crooked, deformed... Person.
  • Sixpence.
  • * 1933 November 16, Times Literary Supplement , 782/1:
  • Twenty years ago you might hear a sixpence described as a ‘Lord ’ meaning ‘Lord of the Manor’; that is, a tanner.

    Derived terms

    * lord mesne, lord paramount, lord in gross, lord of the manor * House of Lords, Lords Temporal, Lords Spiritual * drunk as a lord * lord-in-waiting, lord of the bedchamber, lord superior * lords of creation * warlord * landlord * lord-fish

    Synonyms

    * drighten, possessor, proprietor, sovereign

    See also

    * lady

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • Domineer or act like a lord.
  • (label) To invest with the dignity, power, and privileges of a lord.
  • (Shakespeare)

    Derived terms

    * lord it over

    References

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