- tyranny
- c.1368, "cruel or unjust use of power," from O.Fr. tyrannie (13c.), from L.L. tyrannia "tyranny," from Gk. tyrannia "rule of a tyrant," from tyrannos "master" (see tyrant). Tyrannize is first attested 1494, from M.Fr. tyranniser (14c.); tyrannical was formed 1538 (tyrannic was used in this sense from 1491).