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): /hɪˈɡɛm.ə.ni/, /hɪˈd͡ʒɛm.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], Anonymous, transl., “Germany and the Revolution”, in 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

• Arabic: هَيْمَنَة‎ f (haymana)
• Armenian: գերիշխանություն (hy) (gerišxanutʿyun)
• Bulgarian: хегемония (bg) f (hegemonija), господство (bg) n (gospodstvo)
• Catalan: hegemonia (ca) f
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: nadvláda (cs) f, hegemonie (cs) f
• Dutch: hegemonie (nl) f, suprematie (nl), heerschap (nl), overwicht (nl), preponderantie (nl)
• Finnish: hegemonia (fi)
• French: hégémonie (fr) f
• German: Hegemonie (de) f
• Hebrew: הֶגְמוֹנְיָה‎ (he) (hegmonya)
• Hungarian: hegemónia (hu)
• Italian: egemonia (it) f
• Japanese: 覇権 (ja) (はけん, haken), ヘゲモニー (ja) (hegemonī)
• Kazakh: үстемдік (üstemdik)
• Khmer: អនុត្តរភាព (ak nut tak rak pheap)
• Lithuanian: hegemonija f

• Malay: hegemoni
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hegemoni n

  Nynorsk: hegemoni n

• Persian: سلطه‌گری‎ (soltegari), فرادستی‎ (farâdasti), هژمونی‎ (fa) (hežemoni)
• Polish: hegemonia (pl) f
• Portuguese: hegemonia (pt) f
• Russian: гегемо́ния (ru) f (gegemónija), госпо́дство (ru) n (gospódstvo), игемо́ния f (igemónija)
• Serbo-Croatian: hegemonija (sh) f, nadvlada (sh) f
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: hegemonija f

• Spanish: hegemonía (es) f
• Swedish: hegemoni (sv) c, herravälde (sv)
• Turkish: hegemonya (tr)
• Venetian: egemonia f

Further reading

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