First Known Use: 1576
Dictionary
democracy
noun de·moc·ra·cy \di-ˈmä-krə-sē\
: a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting
: a country ruled by democracy
: an organization or situation in which everyone is treated equally and has equal rights
plural de·moc·ra·cies
Full Definition of DEMOCRACY
1
2
: a political unit that has a democratic government
3
capitalized : the principles and policies of the Democratic party in the United States <from emancipation Republicanism to New Deal Democracy — C. M. Roberts>
4
: the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority
5
: the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges
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Examples of DEMOCRACY
- Democracy, I would repeat, is the noblest form of government we have yet evolved … —Norman Mailer, New York Review of Books, 27 Mar. 2002
- … this and the economic failures of faithful democracies in places such as India or the Anglophone Caribbean demonstrated conclusively that there was no inherent link between freedom and capitalism … —Orlando Patterson, New Republic, 8 Nov. 1999
- Even in democracies today, crucial knowledge is available to only a few individuals … —Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, 1997
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Origin of DEMOCRACY
Middle French democratie, from Late Latin democratia, from Greek dēmokratia, from dēmos + -kratia -cracy
Related to DEMOCRACY
- Synonyms
- republic, self-government, self-rule
Other Government and Politics Terms
Rhymes with DEMOCRACY
DEMOCRACY Defined for Kids
democracy
noun de·moc·ra·cy \di-ˈmä-krə-sē\
plural de·moc·ra·cies
Definition of DEMOCRACY for Kids
1
: government by the people : majority rule
2
: government in which the highest power is held by the people and is usually used through representatives
3
: a political unit (as a nation) governed by the people
4
: belief in or practice of the idea that all people are socially equal
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