dictator

Etymology

From Latin dictātor (“a chief magistrate”), from dictō (“dictate, prescribe”), from dīcō (“say, speak”). Surface analysis is dictate + -or “one who dictates”.

noun

1. A totalitarian leader of a country, nation, or government.
   The Dominicans had lived for thirty years under the iron-fisted rule of dictator Leonidas Trujillo. During those years, which ended with Trujillo's assassination in 1961, those who opposed Trujillo had three choices: to go into exile, to go underground, or to remain quiet. Most Dominicans had chosen the third course. 1971, Lyndon Johnson, “A Time of Testing: Crises in the Caribbean”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 188
   Dictator, noun : someone who doesn't let American CEOs dictate how their country is run 2019, (Existential Comics), 29 January, 9:27 AM Tweet
   "The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment in it was he didn't know it was there," Biden said. "That's a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didn't know what happened. That wasn't supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course," Biden said. June 21, 2023, Trevor Hunnicutt, Ryan Woo, quoting Joe Biden, “China hits back after Biden calls Xi a 'dictator'”, in Reuters, archived from the original on 2023-06-22
2. (history) A magistrate without colleague in republican Ancient Rome, who held full executive authority for a term granted by the senate (legislature), typically to conduct a war.
3. A tyrannical boss or authority figure.
4. A person who dictates text (e.g. letters to a clerk).