The English noun tyrant appears in Middle English use, via Old French, from the 1290s. 7 Methods of obtaining and retaining power.to government by a majority (in a democracy, tyranny of the majority).to government by a minority (in an oligarchy, tyranny of the minority).to government by one individual (in an autocracy).One can apply accusations of tyranny to a variety of types of government: In the late fifth and fourth centuries BC, a new kind of tyrant, one who had the support of the military, arose вЂ“ specifically in Sicily. The EncyclopГ©die defined the term as a usurper of sovereign power who makes 'his subjects the victims of his passions and unjust desires, which he substitutes for laws'. The philosophers Plato and Aristotle defined a tyrant as a person who rules without law, using extreme and cruel methods against both his own people and others. However, Greek philosopher Plato saw tyrannos as a negative word, and on account of the decisive influence of philosophy on politics, its negative connotations only increased, continuing into the Hellenistic period.

The original Greek term meant an absolute sovereign who came to power without constitutional right, yet the word had a neutral connotation during the Archaic and early Classical periods. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to repressive means. A tyrant (from Ancient Greek П„ПЌПЃО±ОЅОЅОїП‚ ( tГєrannos)В 'absolute ruler'), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty.

Tyranny book