dynasties
Powerful hereditary successions
Dynasties is the plural of dynasty, a sequence of rulers from the same family line who maintain power across generations.
The term appears most often in historical contexts—the Ming dynasty, the Romanov dynasty—but extends to any family that dominates a field over time: political dynasties like the Kennedys or sports dynasties like the Manning family.
In casual use, dynasty can describe any team or organization that sustains dominance: The Patriots built a dynasty in the 2000s.
Rule by crowned sovereign
- throneCeremonial chair for sovereigns
- coronationCeremony installing a sovereign
- crownSovereign's ornamental headpiece
- regaliaCeremonial emblems of authority
scepter · palace · court · nobility · aristocracy · king · queen · emperor
Ancestry through generations
- ancestryFamily line of descent
- genealogyStudy of family descent
- successionFollowing in order
- inheritanceProperty received from ancestors
progeny · descendants · heirs · clan · house · family · pedigree · primogeniture
Defeating and seizing control
- expansionIncrease in scope
- territoryLand under jurisdiction
- hegemonyDominant group's control
- dominionAuthority to rule
annexation · tributary · vassalage · protectorate · sultanate · caliphate · satrapy · colonialism
Power to enforce obedience
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
- dominanceSuperior influence over others
- governanceHow authority is exercised
- supremacyHighest rank or power
ascendancy · reign · rule · control · command · influence · tyranny · autocracy
monarchy
Rule by crowned sovereign
- throneCeremonial chair for sovereigns
- coronationCeremony installing a sovereign
- crownSovereign's ornamental headpiece
regalia · scepter · palace · court · nobility · aristocracy · king · queen · emperor · empress
bloodline
Ancestry through generations
- ancestryFamily line of descent
- genealogyStudy of family descent
- successionFollowing in order
inheritance · progeny · descendants · heirs · clan · house · family · pedigree · primogeniture · legitimacy
conquest
Defeating and seizing control
dominion · annexation · tributary · vassalage · protectorate · sultanate · caliphate · satrapy · colonialism · imperialism
authority
Power to enforce obedience
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
- dominanceSuperior influence over others
- governanceHow authority is exercised
supremacy · ascendancy · reign · rule · control · command · influence · tyranny · autocracy · absolutism
pharaohs
Ancient Egypt's supreme rulers
- pyramidsApex-topped geometric solids
- hieroglyphicsSymbolic picture-based writing
- sphinxMysterious, unreadable person
mummies · obelisk · Sumerians · ziggurats · cuneiform · papyrus · scrolls · stele · chariots · mythology
emperor
Male ruler of empire
shogun · czar · caliph · monarch · sovereign · regent · chieftain · warlord · despot · tyrant
- historyancient civilizations, past events, historian, epochs, era
- ancient historyancient history, ancient world, classical antiquity, ancient empires, Mesopotamia
- Asian historyancient China, China, empresses, shoguns, Chinese civilization
- Asian studiesKorean language, Chinese history, Japanese history, Asian history, Japanese literature
- ancient regimesRoman Empire, Persian Empire, Byzantine Empire, Ottoman Empire, Mongol Empire
- Elite Familiesroyalty, nobility, aristocrats, blue bloods, old money
dynastiesdemocracies
Governments elected by people
republics · meritocracies · elected officials · representative governments · electoral systems
dynastiesinterregnums
Gaps between successive reigns
caretaker governments · regencies · political vacuums · usurpers · coups
dynastiescommunes
Shared-living communities
direct democracies · anarchies · federations · collectives · grassroots movements
- political dynastiesKin monopolizing elected power
- royal dynastiesSuccessive generations of monarchs
- dynastic marriageUnion joining ruling families
- dynastic wealthFortune spanning multiple generations
- dynastic strugglesConflicts over hereditary rule
- dynastic successionTransfer of power by lineage