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-cracy - 3 dictionary results

-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:
< MF -cracie (now -cratie) < LL -cratia < Gk -kratia, equiv. to krát(os) rule, strength, might (akin to hard ) + -ia -y 3
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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-cracy  
suff.   Government; rule: meritocracy.


[French -cratie, from Old French, from Late Latin -cratia, from Greek -kratiā, from kratos, strength, power; see kar- in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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-cracy 
from M.L. -cratia, from Gk. -kratia "power, rule," from kratos "strength," from PIE *kratus "power, strength" (see hard). The connective -o- has come to be viewed as part of it.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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