dictatress (dik-TAY-tres) noun

dictatress (dik-TAY-tres) noun

A female dictator.

[From Latin dictator, from dictare (to dictate), frequentative of dicere
(to say). Ultimately from the Indo-European root deik- (to show, to pronounce
solemnly) that is also the source of other words such as judge, verdict,
vendetta, revenge, indicate, dictate, and paradigm.]

"America ... might become dictatress of the world. She would be no
longer the ruler of her own spirit."
John Quincy Adams; Address; Jul 4, 1821; quoted in The Yale Book of
Quotations.

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/dictatress.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/dictatress.ram

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