Tyraunt

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic spelling of tyrant, meaning a ruler who wields absolute power in a cruel, oppressive or unjust manner
2. An old form of the word for a harsh sovereign or despot who governs through brutality and abuse of authority
3. Older spelling denoting a cruel and domineering ruler who seizes or holds power without legitimate right

Etymology: The spelling "tyraunt" is simply an older form of "tyrant," used in Middle English, when English spelling was far less fixed. The modern word goes back to Ancient Greek "túrannos," which meant something rather different from what we now mean by a tyrant: it could describe a usurper or a monarch who had seized power outside the normal succession, and it was not necessarily a term of abuse. Its own origin is unknown, and scholars have never agreed on where it came from. The Romans borrowed the Greek word as "tyrannus," and it passed into Old French as "tiran." Speakers of French later added a final -t to that form, which gave "tyrant," the version English adopted. The change happened through a back-formation linked to the way French present participles developed from Latin forms ending in -ans, so the extra consonant reflects a grammatical pattern in French rather than anything in the original Greek.