## Meanings
1. A ruler who has complete power over a country, especially one who took it by force and rules cruelly.
2. A person who behaves in a bossy, controlling way and forces others to obey.

## Examples
- The country suffered for years under a brutal dictator.
- My boss is a dictator who makes everyone work overtime.

## Derived Forms
- antidictator
- dictatoress
- dictatorless
- dictatorlike
- dictatress
- petro-dictator
- quasi-dictator

## Related Forms
- dictate
- dictatorial
- dictatorship
- dictatrix

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *deyḱ-
- Root: dictātor

## Etymology
From Latin dictātor (“a chief magistrate”), from dictō (“dictate, prescribe”), from dīcō (“say, speak”). By surface analysis, dictate + -or, literally “one who dictates”. Compare Old English tictator (“absolute ruler of the Roman Republic”).

## AI Etymology
dictator comes from Latin dictātor (“a chief magistrate”), from dictō (“dictate, prescribe”), from dīcō (“say, speak”). By surface analysis, dictate + -or, literally “one who dictates”. Compare Old English tictator (“absolute ruler of the Roman Republic”). The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-, Latin dictātor. Current senses include A ruler who has complete power over a country, especially one who took it by force and rules cruelly and A person who behaves in a bossy, controlling way and forces others to obey. English relatives and later formations include antidictator, dictatoress, dictatorless, dictate, dictatorial.

## Topics
- People & Society

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