AUTOCRACY

autocracy

(noun) a political theory favoring unlimited authority by a single individual

autocracy, autarchy

(noun) a political system governed by a single individual

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

autocracy (countable and uncountable, plural autocracies)

(uncountable) A form of government in which unlimited power is held by a single individual.

(countable) An instance of this government.

Synonyms

• (rule): See government

Coordinate terms

• (rule): See government

Source: Wiktionary

Au*toc"ra*cy, n.; pl. Autocracies. Etym: [Gr. autocratie. See Autocrat.]

1. Independent or self-derived power; absolute or controlling authority; supremacy. The divine will moves, not by the external impulse or inclination of objects, but determines itself by an absolute autocracy. South.

2. Supreme, uncontrolled, unlimited authority, or right of governing in a single person, as of an autocrat.

3. Political independence or absolute sovereignty (of a state); autonomy. Barlow.

4. (Med.)

Definition: The action of the vital principle, or of the instinctive powers, toward the preservation of the individual; also, the vital principle. [In this sense, written also autocrasy.] Dunglison.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition