# dynasty

Pronunciation: US say "DY-nuh-stee" /ˈdaɪnəsti/; UK say "DIN-uh-stee" /ˈdɪnəsti/

## Noun

1. A series of rulers from the same family, who hold power one after another.
   - Simple: A family whose members rule a country, one after another.
   - _The young emperor was the last of a dynasty that had ruled for three hundred years._
   - _Royal marriages helped the great European dynasties hold on to their thrones._
2. A family viewed across generations, taking in its ancestors and its descendants.
   - Simple: A family and all its members over many generations, both older and newer.
   - _She married into a banking dynasty that traced its roots back two centuries._
   - _The portraits in the hall show five generations of the shipping dynasty._
3. A team or organization that enjoys a long period of success or dominance.
   - Simple: A team or group that keeps winning for many years.
   - _The coach turned a losing program into a dynasty that won five straight conference titles._
   - _Every rival in the league was desperate to end the dynasty._
4. In East Asian history, the state or period of history under the rule of a particular ruling family.
   - Simple: A time in East Asian history when one family was in power, or the country it ruled.
   - _The scroll was painted early in the Ming dynasty._
   - _Trade with the West grew during the later dynasties, as foreign ships reached the southern ports._

## Origin

Borrowed from Middle French dynastie, from Late Latin dynastia, from Ancient Greek δυναστεία (dunasteía, "power, dominion").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/dynasty (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).