dynasty

UK/ˈdɪnəsti/US/ˈdaɪnəsti/

nounB2Common in everyday speech and writing · #5,196 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: dynasties

A dynasty is a line of rulers from one family. The Tudor dynasty, found a dynasty, the dynasty fell.

The word is used of business and sport as well as kings — a football dynasty is a run of titles by one club. Chinese history is conventionally divided by dynasty, and the Zhou lasted some eight hundred years. The Greek dynasteia means power or dominion.

Definitions of dynasty

1noundynastyA line of rulers from one family.B2
“The Ming dynasty ruled China from 1368 to 1644.”

dynasty is a ruling line.

Where it comes from

Greek dynasteia means power or dominion, from dynastes, a ruler, from dynasthai, to be able.

Proto-Indo-European
*dewh₂-
Ancient Greek
δυναστεία — power, dominion
Latin
dynastia
Middle French
dynastie
English, today
dynasty

Middle French dynastie, from Latin dynastia, from Ancient Greek δυναστεία (“power, dominion”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in History & Eras

Practise this word

dynasty in the wild

The earliest confirmed historical period begins with the Shang dynasty, which left the oldest surviving oracle bone inscriptions.
History of China
In the 13th century, the Mongol Empire conquered China and established the Yuan dynasty.
History of China
The Ptolemaic dynasty, also known as the Lagid dynasty, was a Hellenistic Macedonian Greek royal house which ruled from Alexandria the Ptolemaic Kingdom based in Egypt.
Ptolemaic dynasty
All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy, while queens regnant were all called Cleopatra, Arsinoe, or Berenice.
Ptolemaic dynasty
The multi-ethnic Qing dynasty assembled the territorial base for modern China.
Qing dynasty

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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