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prettygoodwordsatrap (SAY-trap, SA-trap) - n., the governor of a Persian province; a subordinate ruler, esp. a despotic one.
Specifically in the Achaemenid and Parthian dynasties of Persia, as well as the intervening Hellenistic Seleucid empire -- the system of satrapies was set up by Cyrus the Great around 530 BCE and lasted till dismantled by the new Sassanid dynasty around 230 CE, though the title was intermittently used by various nearby polities even afterwards. A satrap had considerable autonomy over his satrapy, and was technically a viceroy and thus spoke with the voice of the emperor. We got the word in the 1300s in the Middle English form satrape, from Latin satrapēs, governor, from Ancient Greek satrápēs, from Old Persian khshathrapāvā/xšaçapavan, protector of the province/domain, from khshathra-, realm/province + pāvā, protector.
---L.
Specifically in the Achaemenid and Parthian dynasties of Persia, as well as the intervening Hellenistic Seleucid empire -- the system of satrapies was set up by Cyrus the Great around 530 BCE and lasted till dismantled by the new Sassanid dynasty around 230 CE, though the title was intermittently used by various nearby polities even afterwards. A satrap had considerable autonomy over his satrapy, and was technically a viceroy and thus spoke with the voice of the emperor. We got the word in the 1300s in the Middle English form satrape, from Latin satrapēs, governor, from Ancient Greek satrápēs, from Old Persian khshathrapāvā/xšaçapavan, protector of the province/domain, from khshathra-, realm/province + pāvā, protector.
---L.
