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View synonyms for democracy

democracy

[ dih-mok-ruh-see ]

noun

, plural de·moc·ra·cies.
  1. government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
  2. a state having such a form of government:

    The United States and Canada are democracies.

  3. a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.
  4. political or social equality; democratic spirit.
  5. the common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.


democracy

/ dɪˈmɒkrəsɪ /

noun

  1. government by the people or their elected representatives
  2. a political or social unit governed ultimately by all its members
  3. the practice or spirit of social equality
  4. a social condition of classlessness and equality
  5. the common people, esp as a political force


democracy

  1. A system of government in which power is vested in the people, who rule either directly or through freely elected representatives.


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Notes

Democratic institutions, such as parliaments , may exist in a monarchy . Such constitutional monarchies as Britain , Canada , and Sweden are generally counted as democracies in practice.

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Other Words From

  • anti·de·mocra·cy noun plural antidemocracies adjective
  • nonde·mocra·cy noun plural nondemocracies
  • prede·mocra·cy noun plural predemocracies
  • prode·mocra·cy adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of democracy1

First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French démocratie, from Late Latin dēmocratia, from Greek dēmokratía “popular government,” equivalent to dēmo- demo- + -kratia -cracy

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Word History and Origins

Origin of democracy1

C16: from French démocratie, from Late Latin dēmocratia, from Greek dēmokratia government by the people; see demo- , -cracy

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Example Sentences

A second document was titled: “Gambia Reborn: A Charter for Transition from Dictatorship to Democracy and Development.”

Faal told the FBI that his group was trying “restore democracy to The Gambia and improve the lives of its people.”

Actually, the guessing game is over; the weddings have begun, as have weird attempts to circumvent our constitutional democracy.

Thomas Piketty raised the Big Questions this year about democracy and inequality.

Piketty only waves his hands around the all-important question of whether economic inequality undermines democracy.

He was so zealous a partisan of democracy, and of Cromwell, that the authorities frequently placed him in a straight jacket.

I have a strong reverence for traditions, and no taste whatever for democracy—that would be too long a step.

Democracy, let us grant it, is the best system of government as yet operative in this world of sin.

I had long ago adopted democracy as a good policy, so now I stopped to introduce myself.

He based this plan upon the premise that democracy would be more successful if greater numbers of individuals were educated.

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democideDemocracy in America