theocracy

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

theo- + -cracy, originally from Ancient Greek θεοκρατία (theokratia, “rule of God”), a term coined in the 1st century by Josephus (Against Apion 2.17) in reference to the kingdom of Israel. Attested in English from the 1630s, first by John Donne in a 1631 sermon, (The Jews were onely under a Theocratie, an immediate government of God., cited after OED).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /θiːˈɒkrəsɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Homophone: theocrasy

Noun

theocracy (plural theocracies)

1. Government under the control of a Church or state-sponsored religion.
2. Rule by God.

Translations

government under the control of a Church

• Catalan: teocràcia (ca) f
• Esperanto: teokratio (eo)
• Finnish: teokratia (fi)
• French: théocratie (fr) f
• Georgian: თეოკრატია (ka) (t’eokratia)

• German: Theokratie (de) f
• Hungarian: papi uralom (hu), teokrácia (hu)
• Polish: teokracja (pl) f
• Portuguese: teocracia (pt) f
• Spanish: teocracia (es) f

rule by God

• Catalan: teocràcia (ca) f
• Finnish: teokratia (fi)

• Spanish: teocracia (es) f