Nearby Words

-cracy

Origin

-cracy

a combining form occurring in loanwords from Greek (aristocracy; democracy); on this model used, with the meaning “rule,” “government,” “governing body,” to form abstract nouns from stems of other origin: mobocracy; bureaucracy.
Compare -crat.


Origin:
< Middle French -cracie (now -cratie) < Late Latin -cratia < Greek -kratia, equivalent to krát(os) rule, strength, might (akin to hard) + -ia -y3
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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-cracy is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Collins
World English Dictionary
-cracy
 
n combining form
See also -crat indicating a type of government or rule: plutocracy; mobocracy
 
[from Greek -kratia, from kratos power]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

-cracy
comb. element forming nouns meaning "rule or government by," from Fr. -cratie or M.L. -cratia, from Gk. -kratia "power, might; rule, sway; power over; a power, authority," from kratos "strength," from PIE *kratus "power, strength" (see hard). The connective -o- has come to
EXPAND
be viewed as part of it. Productive in English from c.1800.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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