despotate

English

Etymology

From despot +‎ -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office, here the concrete charge of it). Compare despotat.

Noun

despotate (plural despotates)

1. (historical) An area ruled by a despot (δεσπότης) in the late Byzantine Balkans (12th to 15th centuries).

   Synonym: despotat

   • 1974, Vladimir Dedijer, History of Yugoslavia, page 129:

     Even before the great sultan Mehmed II, known as El Fatih (the Conqueror), took power in Turkey, the Serbian despotate had become the booty of the invaders.

Related terms

• despot
• despotic
• despotism