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Tyrant (in the modern understanding meaning one who rules as a despot or dictator, in a negative connotation) comes from Latin tyrannus which means "leader or master". The key to understanding it most comes not from Latin but from the Greek tyrranos which in the original connotation referred to someone who assumes the role of a king or master when they did not actually deserve it. In our modern understanding, you of course have "tyran" which is the root of the original Latin word, and then of course "ny" on the end, which refers typically in English to the act of doing something as opposed to the "nt" ending in "tyrant" that refers to a person related to the action. As an example, Tyrant is to Tyrrany as Misogynist is to Misogyny. Or perhaps as a Militant is to Militancy.

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14y ago

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