This word, in its original and most simple acceptation, signifies master and supreme lord; it is synonymous with monarch ; hut taken in bad part as it is usually ‘ employed, it signifies a tyrant In some states, despot is the title given to the sovereign, as king is given in others. Enc. Lond.. Despotism. That abuse of government where the sovereign power is not divided, but united in the hands of a single man, whatever may be his official title. It is not, properly, a , form of government. Toullier, Dr. Civ. Fr. tit. prel. n. 32. “Despotism” is not exactly synonymous with “autocracy,” for the former involves the idea of tyranny or abuse of power, which is not necessarily implied by the latter. Every despotism is autocratic; but an autocracy is not necessarily despotic. Despotize. To act as a despot Webster.