7 results for: oligarchy

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

ol·i·gar·chy

Audio Help [ol-i-gahr-kee] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -chies.

1.	a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few.

2.	a state or organization so ruled.

3.	the persons or class so ruling.

[Origin: 1570–80; < ML oligarchia < Gk oligarchía. See olig-, -archy

]

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

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
oligarchy

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ol·i·gar·chy Audio Help (ŏl'ĭ-gär'kē, ō'lĭ-) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. ol·i·gar·chies

1. Government by a few, especially by a small faction of persons or families.
2. Those making up such a government.
A state governed by a few persons.

ol'i·gar'chic, ol'i·gar'chi·cal adj.

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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
oligarchy

1577, from M.Fr. oligarchie (14c.), from Gk. oligarkhia "government by the few," from oligoi "few, small, little" (of unknown origin) + arkhein "to rule."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

oligarchy
noun
a political system governed by a few people; "one of his cardinal convictions was that Britain was not run as a democracy but as an oligarchy"; "the big cities were notoriously in the hands of the oligarchy of local businessmen"

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
oligarchy [(ol-uh-gahr-kee, oh-luh-gahr-kee)]

A system of government in which power is held by a small group.

[Chapter:] World Politics

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

Oligarchy

Ol`i*gar"chic\, Oligarchical \Ol`i*gar"chic*al\, a. [Gr. ?: cf. F. oligarchique. See Oligarchy.] Of or pertaining to oligarchy, or government by a few. "Oligarchical exiles." --Jowett (Thucyd. ).

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