Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Dictator
Dic-ta′tor
,Noun.
[L.]
1.
One who dictates; one who prescribes rules and maxims authoritatively for the direction of others.
Locke.
2.
One invested with absolute authority; especially, a magistrate created in times of exigence and distress, and invested with unlimited power.
Invested with the authority of a
dictator
, nay, of a pope, over our language. Macaulay.
Webster 1828 Edition
Dictator
DICTATOR
,Noun.
1.
One who dictates; one who prescribes rules and maxims for the direction of others.2.
One invested with absolute authority. In ancient Rome, a magistrate, created in times of exigence and distress, and invested with unlimited power. He remained in office six months.Definition 2024
dictator
dictator
English
Alternative forms
- dictatour (obsolete)
Noun
dictator (plural dictators)
- A totalitarian leader of a country, nation, or government
- Originally, 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)
- A ruler or Führer, the highest level of authority.
Related terms
Translations
totalitarian leader of a dictatorship
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tyrannical boss, or authority figure
Dutch
Pronunciation
Noun
dictator m (plural dictatoren or dictators, diminutive dictatortje n)
- dictator (bossy senses)
Synonyms
Related terms
- dictaat
- dictatoriaal
- dictatuur
Latin
Etymology
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /dikˈtaː.tor/, [dɪkˈtaː.tɔr]
Noun
dictātor m (genitive dictātōris); third declension
- an elected chief magistrate
- one who dictates.
Inflection
Third declension.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | dictātor | dictātōrēs |
| genitive | dictātōris | dictātōrum |
| dative | dictātōrī | dictātōribus |
| accusative | dictātōrem | dictātōrēs |
| ablative | dictātōre | dictātōribus |
| vocative | dictātor | dictātōrēs |
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
- English: dictator
- French: dictateur
- Italian: dittatore
- Polish: dyktator
- Russian: дикта́тор (diktátor)
References
- 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, 1883–1887)
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “dictator”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
- Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, 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