The Meaning of Dynasty: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of dynasty? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word dynasty, including its definition, etymology, usage, and more!

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What does the word dynasty mean?

According to the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language as well as other sources like Collins English Dictionary and American Heritage, the word dynasty is a noun that refers to some succession of rulers from the same line of descent, or some powerful group or family that is able to maintain its position of power for a considerable time. This could refer to a family line or rulers in politics, a sequence of powerful leaders, a ruling family, monarchical system, The pronunciation of dynasty is ˈdɪnəstɪ. A dynasty might have an emblem or crest that contains a symbol like a white rose and the name of the royal family to signify the rule.

There are many famous dynasties. Below is a list of dynasties from Britannica. These family dynasties span many different countries and time periods, including 19th century England, Scotland, Great Britain and the British Royal Family, the Ottoman Empire and Ottoman Dynasty, Manchuria, Naples, the Carlovingian dynasty, France, Ancient Egypt, Hapsburg, northeastern China, the royal German family in Germany, Chinese dynasty, the dynasty of Roman emperors, the ancient dynasty of Macedonian kings, Turkish dynasty, and other great eras of Chinese civilization and European state

  • Saxon dynasty
  •  Achaemenian dynasty
  •  Liao dynasty
  •  Jagiellon dynasty
  •  Idrīsid dynasty
  •  Timurid dynasty
  •  Bonacolsi family
  •  Jin dynasty (265–420)
  •  Lancastrian line
  •  Tudor monarchs
  •  Vakataka dynasty
  •  Clovis family
  •  Omayyad dynasty
  •  Ommiad dynasty
  •  Mazyadid dynasty
  •  Eldegüzid dynasty
  •  Dogra dynasty
  •  Karadjordjević dynasty
  •  Bourbon dynasties
  •  Albret family
  •  Malatesta family
  •  Sui dynasty
  •  Umayyads
  •  Sayyid dynasty
  •  Manchu dynasty
  •  Slave dynasty
  •  Nizam Shāhī dynasty
  •  Sena dynasty
  •  Frankish dynasty
  •  Zhou dynasty
  •  Mōri family
  •  Qin dynasty
  •  Maktūm dynasty
  •  Hanoverian line
  •  Chi’ing dynasty
  •  Tay Son brothers
  •  Song dynasty
  •  Ganga dynasty
  •  Radziwiłł family
  •  house of Bourbon
  •  Ṣafavid dynasty
  •  house of Este
  •  Baglioni family
  •  Sūr dynasty
  •  Kotromanić dynasty
  •  Welf dynasty
  •  Flavian dynasty
  •  Zangid dynasty
  •  Clunies-Ross family
  •  Vere family
  •  Cabot family
  •  Ḥammūdid dynasty
  •  Ramazan dynasty
  •  Hoysala dynasty
  •  Xia dynasty
  •  Esterházy family
  •  Dhū an-Nūnid dynasty
  •  La Trémoille family
  •  Bāvand dynasty
  •  Burgh family
  •  house of Vasa
  •  Zand dynasty
  •  Gonzaga dynasty
  •  Barmakids
  •  Dolgoruky family
  •  house of Habsburg
  •  Valois dynasty
  •  Dambadeṇiya dynasty
  •  Pandya dynasty
  •  Sindhia family
  •  Lakhmid dynasty
  •  Aravidu dynasty
  •  Nemanjić dynasty
  •  Mocenigo family
  •  Arnauld family
  •  Gupta dynasty
  •  Montagu family
  •  ʿAnnazid dynasty
  •  Ayyūbid dynasty
  •  Qājār dynasty
  •  house of Bragança
  •  Corsini family
  •  Borghese family
  •  Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty
  •  Durfort family
  •  Palaeologus family
  •  Chalukya dynasty
  •  Ṭāhirid dynasty
  •  Julio-Claudian dynasty
  •  Chosŏn dynasty
  •  Dulkadir dynasty
  •  Pallava dynasty
  •  Grimaldi family
  •  Spinola family
  •  Montfort family
  •  Dhū an-Nūnid dynasty
  •  Caetani family
  •  house of Lancaster
  •  Gherardesca family
  •  Dānishmend dynasty
  •  Pala dynasty
  •  Ḥusaynid dynasty
  •  Mazyadid dynasty
  •  Ypsilanti family
  •  Najāḥid dynasty
  •  Crescentii family
  •  Holkar dynasty
  •  Guidi family
  •  Rashtrakuta dynasty
  •  Bentivoglio family
  •  Achaemenid dynasty
  •  house of Přemysl
  •  Farnese family
  •  Lakhmid dynasty
  •  Maitraka dynasty
  •  Trubetskoy family
  •  Karası dynasty
  •  Wettin dynasty
  •  house of Stuart
  •  Kennedy dynasty
  •  Maktūm dynasty (Dubayy)
  •  Chola dynasty
  •  Kushan dynasty
  •  Hamdānid dynasty
  •  house of Hauteville
  •  Yadava dynasty
  •  Eşref dynasty
  •  Hohenzollern dynasty
  •  Ayyūbid dynasty
  •  Il-Khanid dynasty
  •  Koryŏ dynasty
  •  Bārakzay dynasty
  •  Salghurid dynasty
  •  Ṣulayḥid dynasty
  •  house of Hanover
  •  house of York
  •  Balliol family
  •  Argead dynasty
  •  Mughal dynasty
  •  Golitsyn family
  •  Zīrid dynasty
  •  Maukhari dynasty
  •  Arsacid dynasty
  •  Sapieha family
  •  Qarakhanid dynasty (Transoxania)
  •  Bagratid dynasty
  •  Naṣrid dynasty
  •  Lodī dynasty
  •  Billung dynasty
  •  Ghaznavid dynasty
  •  Kalachuri dynasty
  •  Candar dynasty
  •  Carrara family
  •  Howard family
  •  Moẓaffarid dynasty
  •  Saʿūd dynasty
  •  Bonaparte family
  •  della Scala family
  •  Eldegüzid dynasty
  •  Billung dynasty
  •  Antigonid dynasty
  •  Adams family
  •  Shaishunaga dynasty
  •  Nahyān dynasty
  •  Alcmaeonid family
  •  Zamoyski family
  •  Parteciaco family
  •  Czartoryski family
  •  Artuqid dynasty
  •  Salian dynasty
  •  Satavahana dynasty
  •  Condé family
  •  ʿUqaylid dynasty
  •  Ikhshīdids dynasty
  •  Merovingian dynasty
  •  Battenberg family
  •  Yuan dynasty
  •  Gahadavala dynasty
  •  Sīmjūrid dynasty
  •  Khaljī dynasty
  •  Capetian dynasty
  •  Thānī dynasty
  •  Sāsānian dynasty
  •  Zangid dynasty
  •  Jalāyirid
  •  house of Windsor
  •  Afṭasid dynasty
  •  Fieschi family
  •  Later Le dynasty
  •  Ghaznavid dynasty
  •  Menteşe dynasty
  •  Sāmānid dynasty
  •  Quṭb Shāhī dynasty
  •  Ziyādid dynasty
  •  Ṭūlūnid dynasty
  •  ʿAbbasid dynasty
  •  Gondi family
  •  Sforza family
  •  Ḥammūdid dynasty
  •  Ikhshīdids dynasty
  •  house of Tudor
  •  Malaspina family
  •  Rurik dynasty
  •  Fāṭimid dynasty (North Africa and the Middle East)
  •  Solomonid dynasty
  •  Ṣaffārid dynasty
  •  Borgia family
  •  Angelus family
  •  Mac family
  •  Barīd Shāhī dynasty
  •  Montefeltro family
  •  Chauvelin family
  •  Cera dynasty
  •  Frescobaldi family
  •  Chakkri dynasty
  •  Han dynasty
  •  house of Bernadotte
  •  Ayyūbid dynasty
  •  Gtsang dynasty
  •  Piast dynasty
  •  house of Savoy
  •  Mortimer family
  •  Khwārezm-Shāh dynasty
  •  Romanov dynasty
  •  Borgia family
  •  Adorno family
  •  house of Orange
  •  Tran dynasty
  •  Bhonsle dynasty
  •  Ḥafṣid dynasty
  •  Gaekwar dynasty
  •  Marinid dynasty
  •  Chigi family
  •  Hūdid dynasty
  •  Idrīsid dynasty
  •  Fujiwara family
  •  Kāʿūsīyeh dynasty
  •  Mancini sisters
  •  Visconti family
  •  Aghlabid dynasty
  •  Nanda dynasty
  •  Jahwarid dynasty
  •  Kanva dynasty
  •  house of Normandy
  •  Kadamba family
  •  Dandolo family
  •  Trung sisters
  •  Bruce family
  •  Mughal dynasty
  •  Toungoo dynasty
  •  Unified Silla dynasty
  •  Percy family
  •  Jagiellon dynasty
  •  Zagwe dynasty
  •  Alaungpaya dynasty
  •  Polenta family
  •  Kushan dynasty
  •  ʿAbd al-Wadid dynasty
  •  Correggio family
  •  ʿAbbādid dynasty
  •  Jalīlī family
  •  Morosini family
  •  Hasmonean dynasty
  •  Ḥasanwayhid dynasty
  •  Saruhan dynasty
  •  Ṣabāḥ dynasty
  •  Mosāferīd dynasty
  •  Cecil family
  •  Comnenus family
  •  Hūdid dynasty
  •  Piccolomini family
  •  house of Habsburg
  •  Ming dynasty
  •  Gemayel family
  •  Embriaci family
  •  Ikhshīdids dynasty
  •  Jin dynasty (1115–1234)
  •  Contarini family
  •  Angoulême dynasty
  •  Maccabees
  •  Hamid dynasty
  •  Jahwarid dynasty
  •  Aydin dynasty
  •  Árpád dynasty
  •  Tang dynasty
  •  Rasūlid dynasty
  •  Campbell family
  •  Hāshimite
  •  Later Ly dynasty
  •  house of Vasa
  •  Pepoli family
  •  Uesugi family
  •  Yamanouchi family
  •  Ordelaffi family
  •  Russell family
  •  Sumra family
  •  Saʿūd dynasty
  •  Xin dynasty
  •  house of Wittelsbach
  •  Soong family
  •  Changamire dynasty (African)
  •  Hōjō family
  •  ʿĀdil Shāhī dynasty
  •  Ptolemaic dynasty
  •  Yamato dynasty
  •  Yuan dynasty
  •  La Rochefoucauld family
  •  Zeyārid dynasty
  •  Wei dynasty
  •  Burgh family
  •  Ducas family
  •  Shang dynasty
  •  Carolingian dynasty
  •  Golden Horde
  •  Il-Khanid dynasty
  •  Funj dynasty
  •  Boccanegra family
  •  Būyid dynasty
  •  Shunga dynasty
  •  Eretna dynasty
  •  Tomara dynasty
  •  Medici family
  •  Āl Bū Saʿīd dynasty
  •  Polignac family
  •  house of Bourbon
  •  Bagratid dynasty
  •  Hohenlohe family
  •  Czetwertyński family
  •  Phag-mo-gru family
  •  Beaufort family
  •  Taira family
  •  Despenser family
  •  Rohan family
  •  Doria family
  •  Trinh family
  •  ʿAbbadid dynasty
  •  house of Bragança
  •  Belmont family
  •  Ahl al-Bayt
  • Chi-ing dynasty

All sorts of different languages also contain words that mean dynasty. You may notice that a lot of these words look similar to the word dynasty and are pronounced the same as well. These are called cognates, which are often formed when two words have the same root or language of origin. This list of translations of dynasty is provided by Word Sense.

  •  Hebrew: שושלת‎
  •  Armenian: դինաստիա‎, հարստություն‎, տուն‎
  •  Indonesian: wangsa‎, ahala‎
  •  French: dynastie‎ (fem.)
  •  Irish: ríshliocht‎ (masc.), ríora‎ (masc.)
  •  Bulgarian: династия‎ (fem.)
  •  Portuguese: dinastia‎ (fem.)
  •  Romanian: dinastie‎ (fem.)
  •  Swahili: nasaba‎
  •  Mandarin: 朝代‎ (cháodài), 王朝‎ (wángcháo), 朝‎ (cháo)
  •  Finnish: dynastia‎
  •  Basque: dinastia‎
  •  Tagalog: halari‎, dinastiya‎
  •  Persian: سلسله‎ (selsele)
  •  Scots: deenasty‎
  •  Hungarian: dinasztia‎
  •  Swedish: dynasti‎ (common)
  •  Latvian: dinastija‎ (fem.)
  •  Danish: dynasti‎ (neut.)
  •  Greek: Δυναστεία‎
  •  Czech: dynastie‎ (fem.)
  •  Dutch: dynastie‎ (fem.)
  •  Telugu: వంశం‎ (vamSam)
  •  Italian: dinastia‎ (fem.)
  •  German: Dynastie‎ (fem.)
  •  Japanese: 王朝‎ (ōchō)
  •  Slovene: dinastíja‎ (fem.)
  •  Esperanto: dinastio‎
  •  Arabic: سُلَالَة‎ (fem.)
  •  Russian: дина́стия‎ (fem.)
  •  Catalan: dinastia‎ (fem.)
  •  Spanish: dinastía‎ (fem.)
  •  Vietnamese: triều đại‎, vương triều‎
  •  Korean: 왕조‎ (wang-jo)
  •  Novial: dinastie‎
  •  Hindi: राजकुल‎ (masc.)
  •  Serbo-Croatian: династија‎

What are synonyms for the word dynasty?

Many different English language words can be used in place of the word dynasty. These are called synonyms, which have the same definition of the word dynasty. Learning synonyms is a great way to expand your English language vocabulary and avoid repeating yourself. This list of alternative terms for dynasty is provided by Thesaurus. There are no antonyms, or opposite words, for dynasty.

  •  rule
  •  power
  •  house
  •  administration
  •  incumbency
  •  establishment
  •  tenure
  •  hegemony
  •  dynasty
  •  pecking order
  •  system
  •  sway
  •  monarchy
  •  reign
  •  management
  •  sovereignty
  •  command
  •  dominion
  •  control
  •  regime
  •  supremacy
  •  government
  •  influence
  •  absolutism
  •  empire
  •  ascendancy
  •  lordship

What is the origin of dynasty?

According to Etymonline, the word dynasty has been used since the mid-15c in Middle English. In Old English in the late 14c, the word was spelled as the earlier dynastia. This comes from the Middle French dynastie, Medieval Latin and Late Latin dynastia, from the Greek dynasteia, Greek dunasteia, and Greek dynastes/dunastēs. These comes from the word dynasthai meaning to have power, which is of unknown origin. The word dynasty has a few related words including dynast and dynastic.

Overall, the word dynasty is used by historians to refer to an imperial government, family name of a line of English kings, or European royal line that rules a country. Dynasties have ruled bureaucracy for centuries in places around the world like Byzantium. Dynasties including the English dynasty or English royal house, French royal house, German noble family, crown of the Holy Roman empire, the Russian imperial line, and the last imperial dynasty of China are all wealthy, influential families. 

Sources:

  1. dynasty: meaning, origin, translation | Word Sense 
  2. DYNASTY Synonyms: 9 Synonyms & Antonyms for DYNASTY | Thesaurus 
  3. dynasty | Origin and meaning of dynasty | Online Etymology Dictionary 
  4. Dynasty | Definition of Dynasty | Merriam-Webster 
  5. List of dynasties | Britannica