Despotate

Origin

despot + -ate

Full definition of despotate

Noun

1. An area ruled by a despot (δεσπότης) in the late Byzantine Balkans (12th to 15th centuries).
• 1974, Vladimir Dedijer, History of Yugoslavia‎, 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