hegemony

English

WOTD – 17 February 2007

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἡγεμονία (hēgemonía, “supremacy or leadership, chief command”), from ἡγεμών (hēgemṓn, “a leader, guide, commander, chief”), from ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai, “to lead”). Early 19th-century usage influenced by German Hegemonie.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /hɪˈd͡ʒɛm.ə.ni/, /hɪˈɡɛm.ə.ni/
• (US) IPA^(key): /hɪˈd͡ʒɛm.ə.ni/, /ˈhɛd͡ʒ.ə.moʊ.ni/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

Noun

hegemony (countable and uncountable, plural hegemonies)

1. (formal) Domination, influence, or authority over another, especially by one political group over a society or by one nation over others.
   • 1820 [1819], “Germany and the Revolution”, in anonymous translator, The Pamphleteer‎^[1], volume xxv, number 30, London, translation of Teutschland und die Revolution by J[oseph] Görres, page 572:

     The idea of a German republic and confederacy like the American, is surely less fantastical than a hegemony to which nobody is willing to submit.

2. Dominance of one social group over another, such that the ruling group or hegemon acquires some degree of consent from the subordinate, as opposed to dominance purely by force.

   The two political parties battled viciously for hegemony.

Derived terms

• hegemonism
• hegemonist
• hegemonize

Related terms

• hegemon
• hegemonic

Translations

domination, influence, or authority over another

• Albanian: hegjemoni (sq) f
• Arabic: هَيْمَنَة f (haymana), سَيْطَرَة f (sayṭara)
• Armenian: գերիշխանություն (hy) (gerišxanutʻyun), հեգեմոնիա (hy) (hegemonia)
• Asturian: hexemonía f
• Azerbaijani: hegemoniya, üstünlük (az)
• Belarusian: гегемо́нія f (hjehjemónija), панава́нне n (panavánnje)
• Bulgarian: хегемо́ния (bg) f (hegemónija), госпо́дство (bg) n (gospódstvo)
• Catalan: hegemonia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 霸權／霸权 (zh) (bàquán), 領導權／领导权 (zh) (lǐngdǎoquán)

• Czech: nadvláda (cs) f, hegemonie (cs) f
• Danish: hegemoni n, overherredømme n
• Dutch: hegemonie (nl) f, suprematie (nl), heerschap (nl) n, overwicht (nl) n, preponderantie (nl) f
• Estonian: hegemoonia
• Finnish: hegemonia (fi)
• French: hégémonie (fr) f
• Galician: hexemonía f
• Georgian: ჰეგემონია (hegemonia), ბატონობა (baṭonoba)
• German: Hegemonie (de) f, Vorherrschaft (de) f
• Greek: ηγεμονία (el) f (igemonía)
• Hebrew: הֶגְמוֹנְיָה (he) f (hegmónya)
• Hindi: आधिपत्य (hi) m (ādhipatya)
• Hungarian: hegemónia (hu)
• Icelandic: forræði (is) m
• Italian: egemonia (it) f
• Japanese: 覇権 (ja) (はけん, haken), ヘゲモニー (ja) (hegemonī)
• Kazakh: үстемдік (üstemdık)
• Khmer: អនុត្តរភាព (ʼaʼnuttaʼraʼphiəp)
• Korean: 패권(覇權) (ko) (paegwon), 헤게모니 (ko) (hegemoni)
• Kyrgyz: гегемония (ky) (gegemoniya), үстөмдүк (ky) (üstömdük)
• Latvian: hegemonija f
• Lithuanian: hegemonija f
• Macedonian: хегемонија f (hegemonija), превласт f (prevlast)
• Malay: hegemoni
• Malayalam: ആധിപത്യം (ml) (ādhipatyaṁ)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hegemoni n

  Nynorsk: hegemoni n

• Persian: سلطه‌گری (solte-gari), فرادستی (farâdasti), هژمونی (fa) (hežemoni)
• Polish: hegemonia (pl) f
• Portuguese: hegemonia (pt) f
• Romanian: hegemonie (ro) f
• Russian: гегемо́ния (ru) f (gegemónija), госпо́дство (ru) n (gospódstvo), игемо́ния f (igemónija) (rare)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: хегемо̀нија f, пре̏вла̄ст f

  Roman: hegemònija (sh) f, prȅvlāst (sh) f

• Sicilian: eggimunìa f
• Slovak: hegemónia f, nadvláda f
• Slovene: hegemonija f, nadvlada f
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: hegemonija f

• Spanish: hegemonía (es) f
• Swedish: hegemoni (sv) c, herravälde (sv)
• Tajik: гегемония (gegemoniya), ҳукмронӣ (hukmronī)
• Turkish: hegemonya (tr), üstünlük (tr)
• Ukrainian: гегемо́нія f (hehemónija), панува́ння n (panuvánnja), володарюва́ння n (volodarjuvánnja), владарюва́ння n (vladarjuvánnja), царюва́ння (uk) n (carjuvánnja)
• Uzbek: gegemonlik (uz), gegemoniya (uz), ustunlik (uz)
• Venetian: egemonia f
• Vietnamese: bá quyền (vi) (霸權)

Further reading

• “hegemony”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “hegemony”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• "hegemony" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 144.