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timocracy - 4 dictionary results

ti⋅moc⋅ra⋅cy

  [tahy-mok-ruh-see]
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–noun, plural -cies.
1. a form of government in which love of honor is the dominant motive of the rulers.
2. a form of government in which a certain amount of property is requisite as a qualification for office.
Origin:
1580–90; earlier timocratie (< F) < Gk tīmokratía, equiv. to tīmo- (comb. form of tīm honor, worth) + -kratia -cracy

Related forms:
ti⋅mo⋅crat⋅ic  [tahy-muh-krat-ik] , ti⋅mo⋅crat⋅i⋅cal, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ti·moc·ra·cy   (tī-mŏk'rə-sē)   
n.   pl. ti·moc·ra·cies
  1. A state described by Plato as being governed on principles of honor and military glory.
  2. An Aristotelian state in which civic honor or political power increases with the amount of property one owns.

[Obsolete French tymocracie, from Medieval Latin tīmocratia, from Greek tīmokratiā : tīmē, honor, value + -kratiā, -cracy.]
ti'mo·crat'ic (tī'mə-krāt'ĭk) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Timocracy

Ti*moc"ra*cy\, n. [Gr. ?; ? honor, worth (fr. ? to honor) + ? to govern: cf. F. timocratie.] (Gr. Antiq.) (a) A state in which the love of honor is the ruling motive. (b) A state in which honors are distributed according to a rating of property.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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timocracy 
1586, from M.Fr. tymocracie, from M.L. timocratia (13c.), from Gk. timokratia, from time "honor, worth" (related to tiein "to place a value on, to honor") + -kratia "rule." In Plato's philosophy, a form of government in which ambition for power and glory motivates the rulers (as in Sparta). In Aristotle, a form of government in which political power is in direct proportion to property ownership.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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