despotism vs autocracy

despotism and autocracy both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
despotism	Yes	No	No	No
autocracy	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, autocracy is a hypernym of despotism; that is, autocracy is a word with a broader meaning than despotism:

despotism: a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)
autocracy: a political system governed by a single individual

Other hypernyms of despotism include autarchy.

despotism (noun)	autocracy (noun)
a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)	a political theory favoring unlimited authority by a single individual
dominance through threat of punishment and violence	a political system governed by a single individual