despotat (despotat)

[F. despotat; The absence of all feudal organization... gave the des pot at of Epirus a Byzantine type. [= Finlay , Medieval Greece and Trebizond, vi. § 1. despotet, n. An obsolete form of despot . despotic, despotical (des-pot'ik, -i-kal), a . OF. and F. despot i que = Sp. despótico = Pg. It. despotico (cf. D. G. despotisch = Dan. Sw. despo tisk ), δεσποτικός , of a lord or despot, despot .] Pertaining to or of the nature of a despot or despotism; unlimited; arbitrary; tyrannical: as, a despotic ruler; despotic government or power; a despotic will. We may see in a neighbouring government the ill consequences of having a despotick prince. Add is on. In a barbarous age the imagination exercises a despotic Macaulay , Dryden. power. imperious, Despotic monarchy. See monarchy. = Syn. Autocratic, despotically (des-pot'i-kal-i), adv. In a despotic manner; with unlimited power; arbitrarily. Alike in Hindu and in Ru ian village-communities we find the group of habitations, each despotically ruled by a pater-familias. J. Fiske , Amer. Pol. Ideas, p. 41.