How to spell tyranny

Double letters

The word tyranny has one R and two Ns, and tyrany keeps the single N of tyrant. The noun doubles the N before its final Y, so the shorter word is no guide to the longer one.

Doubled letters are part of how a word is built, not decoration. The reason behind a double varies from word to word. Often it is an added ending, sometimes the word's history, so the double is learned along with the word.

Greek spelling: y for the i sound between consonants

noun. Cruel and oppressive government or rule.

• accommodate
• address
• aggressive
• broccoli
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• harass
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• millennium
• necessary

The conventions each language layer left in English spelling, with their sources, are on where English spelling comes from.