democracy - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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

de·moc·ra·cy

Audio Help [di-mok-ruh-see] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -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.

[Origin: 1525–35; < MF démocratie < LL démocratia < Gk démokratía popular government, equiv. to démo- demo- + -kratia -cracy

]

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

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
democracy

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

de·moc·ra·cy Audio Help (dĭ-mŏk'rə-sē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. de·moc·ra·cies

Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.
A political or social unit that has such a government.
The common people, considered as the primary source of political power.
Majority rule.
The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community.

[French démocratie, from Late Latin dēmocratia, from Greek dēmokratiā : dēmos, people; see dā- in Indo-European roots + -kratiā, -cracy.]

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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
democracy

1574, from M.Fr. democratie, from M.L. democratia (13c.), from Gk. demokratia, from demos "common people," originally "district" (see demotic), + kratos "rule, strength" (see -cracy). Democratic for one of the two major U.S. political parties is 1829, though members of the Democratic-Republican (formerly Anti-Federal) party had been called Democrats since 1798; though colloquial abbrev. Demo dates to 1793.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

democracy
noun
1.	the political orientation of those who favor government by the people or by their elected representatives
2.	a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them
3.	the doctrine that the numerical majority of an organized group can make decisions binding on the whole group [syn: majority rule]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
democracy [diˈmokrəsi] noun — plural deˈmocracies

(a country having) a form of government in which the people freely elect representatives to govern them
Example: Which is the world's largest democracy?; He believes in democracy.

Arabic:	ديموقْراطِيَّه، حُكْم الشَّعْب
Chinese (Simplified):	民主
Chinese (Traditional):	民主
Czech:	demokracie
Danish:	demokrati
Dutch:	democratie
Estonian:	demokraatia
Finnish:	demokratia
French:	démocratie
German:	die Demokratie
Greek:	δημοκρατία
Hungarian:	demokrácia
Icelandic:	lÿðræði, lÿðræðisríki
Indonesian:	demokrasi
Italian:	democrazia

Japanese:	民主主義
Latvian:	demokrātija, demokrātisms
Lithuanian:	demokratija, demokratinė šalis
Norwegian:	demokrati, folkestyre
Polish:	demokracja
Portuguese (Brazil):	democracia
Portuguese (Portugal):	democracia
Romanian:	democraţie
Russian:	демократия
Slovak:	demokracia
Slovenian:	demokracija
Spanish:	democracia
Swedish:	demokrati
Turkish:	demokrasi

See also: democrat, democratic, democratically

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
democracy

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

Note: 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.

[Chapter:] World Politics

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

Democracy

De*moc"ra*cy\, n.; pl. Democracies. [F. d['e]mocratie, fr. Gr. dhmokrati`a; dh^mos the people + kratei^n to be strong, to rule, kra`tos strength.]

1. Government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is retained and directly exercised by the people.

2. Government by popular representation; a form of government in which the supreme power is retained by the people, but is indirectly exercised through a system of representation and delegated authority periodically renewed; a constitutional representative government; a republic.

3. Collectively, the people, regarded as the source of government. --Milton.

4. The principles and policy of the Democratic party, so called. [U.S.]

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