Word of the Day

: November 27, 2016

dynasty

noun DYE-nuh-stee

What It Means

1 : a succession of rulers of the same line of descent

2 : a powerful group or family that maintains its position for a considerable time

dynasty in Context

"A scion of the Patterson-Medill publishing dynasty (her great-grandfather and her father founded the Chicago Tribune and the New York Daily News, respectively), [Alicia] Patterson launched Newsday in 1940, on Long Island, quickly building it from a small suburban daily to an influential national paper." — Jocelyn Hannah, The New Yorker, 12 Sept. 2016

"Mark down 2016 as the year the Republican Party under a new standard-bearer divorced itself from the Bush dynasty." — Dan Janison, Newsday (New York), 10 Oct. 2016

Did You Know?

Dynast and dynasty both descend from the Greek verb dynasthai, which means "to be able" or "to have power." Dynasty came to prominence in English first; it has been part of our language since at least the 14th century. Dynast took its place in the linguistic family line in the early 1600s, and it has been used to describe sovereigns and other rulers ever since.