Plutocracy - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: Plutocracy

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

plu·toc·ra·cy

Audio Help [ploo-tok-ruh-see] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -cies.

1.	the rule or power of wealth or of the wealthy.

2.	a government or state in which the wealthy class rules.

3.	a class or group ruling, or exercising power or influence, by virtue of its wealth.

[Origin: 1645–55; < Gk ploutokratía, equiv. to ploûto(s) wealth + -kratia -cracy

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Plutocracy

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

plu·toc·ra·cy Audio Help (plōō-tŏk'rə-sē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. plu·toc·ra·cies

Government by the wealthy.
A wealthy class that controls a government.
A government or state in which the wealthy rule.

[Greek ploutokratiā : ploutos, wealth; see pleu- in Indo-European roots + -kratiā, -cracy.]

plu'to·crat' (plōō'tə-krāt') n., plu'to·crat'ic, plu'to·crat'i·cal adj., plu'to·crat'i·cal·ly adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
plutocracy

1652, from Gk. ploutokratia "rule or power of the wealthy or of wealth," from ploutos "wealth" (see Pluto) + -kratia "rule," from kratos "rule, power." Plutocrat is 1850.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

plutocracy
noun
a political system governed by the wealthy people

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
plutocracy [(plooh-tok-ruh-see)]

Government by the rich. The term is usually one of reproach.

[Chapter:] World Politics

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Plutocracy

Plu*toc"ra*cy\, n. [Gr. ?; ? wealth + ? to be strong, to rule, fr.? strength: cf. F. plutocratie.] A form of government in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of the wealthy classes; government by the rich; also, a controlling or influential class of rich men.

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