Autocracy

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Autocracy \Au*toc"ra*cy\, n.; pl. {Autocracies}. [Gr. ?: cf. F.
     autocratie. See {Autocrat}.]
     1. Independent or self-derived power; absolute or controlling
        authority; supremacy.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              The divine will moves, not by the external impulse
              or inclination of objects, but determines itself by
              an absolute autocracy.                --South.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Supreme, uncontrolled, unlimited authority, or right of
        governing in a single person, as of an autocrat.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Political independence or absolute sovereignty (of a
        state); autonomy. --Barlow.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Med.) The action of the vital principle, or of the
        instinctive powers, toward the preservation of the
        individual; also, the vital principle. [In this sense,
        written also {autocrasy}.] --Dunglison.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  autocracy
       n 1: a political system governed by a single individual [syn: {autarchy}]
            [ant: {democracy}]
       2: a political theory favoring unlimited authority by a single
          individual