autocrat

noun

au·​to·​crat ˈȯ-tə-ˌkrat How to pronounce autocrat (audio)
1
: a person (such as a monarch) ruling with unlimited authority
2
: one who has undisputed influence or power
He was the autocrat of his household.

Examples of autocrat in a Sentence

European autocrats once commonly believed that they had received the right to rule directly from God.
Recent Examples on the Web Tracy, who was previously a writer on Succession, set out to write a satire of autocrats, while also telling a love story. Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 1 Mar. 2024 For years, strongmen and autocrats had a novel weapon in their hunt for political enemies. Jane Bradley, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2024 As autocrats are being voted into office across the region and the world, Guatemala, a country with a long history of dictatorships and corrupt governments, is fighting to insure a victory for democracy. Graciela Mochkofsky, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2023 The international police organization has toughened oversight of its protocols, which autocrats have used to pursue dissidents. Jane Bradley, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2024 This popular dynamic has brought growing pressure on Arab autocrats and given new clout in the Sunni world to Shiite groups that have actively supported Hamas. Toby Matthiesen, Foreign Affairs, 9 Feb. 2024 Under him, more than 2% of the adult population of the Central American country is behind bars and several constitutional rights have been shelved, prompting critics to call him a modern day autocrat. Reuters, NBC News, 30 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'autocrat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French & Greek; French autocrate, borrowed from Greek autokratḗs "ruling by itself (of a mind), with sole authority (for a task)," from auto- auto- + -kratēs, adjective derivative of kratéō, krateîn "to be strong or powerful, have command, rule," derivative of krátos "strength, power, authority" — more at hard entry 1

Note: The Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, notes that the earliest English attestation of autocrat, from 1762, precedes the earliest French attestation by six years. The source in question, the newspaper The Public Advertiser, uses the word as part of the title of Catherine II, "Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias." "Autocrat" here most likely translates, with the loss of the feminine suffix, French autocratrice, a word used in the French titles of three Russian empresses: Anna (1730-40), Elizaveta Petrovna (1741-62), and Catherine (1762-1796). The masculine correspondent was autocrateur, which corresponds not to Greek autokratḗs, but rather to the adjective autokrátōr, which is better attested in ancient Greek in a wider array of meanings: "independent, with full authority, in control, with sole authority," and in the early Roman empire is used as the Greek equivalent of Latin imperātor (see imperator, emperor). Indeed, though the etymology above showing borrowing from autokratḗs is formally acceptable, English autocrate may more likely be a back-formation from autocracy (in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with the meanings "self-control" and "absolute power," and also spelled autocrasy, autocraty) (compare aristocrat, democrat). The Russian equivalents of French autocrateur and autocratrice were samoderžec and samoderžica (compare samoderžavie "autocracy"), which themselves represent calques on Greek autokrátōr, though at a much earlier period (Old Church Slavic samodrŭžĭcĭ, samodrŭžitelĭ, from samo- "self" and drŭžati "to hold, have, control").

First Known Use

1762, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of autocrat was in 1762

Dictionary Entries Near autocrat

Cite this Entry

“Autocrat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autocrat. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

autocrat

noun
au·​to·​crat ˈȯt-ə-ˌkrat How to pronounce autocrat (audio)
: a person who rules with unlimited authority

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