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!
Your writing, at its best
Compose bold, clear, mistake-free, writing with Grammarly's AI-powered writing assistant
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.
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.
Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do's and don'ts for all who share the same passion! He can be found online here.