Home > -cracy

The English suffix -cracy means a form of government or a state having such government. It is derived from the ancient Greek kratein, meaning "to rule". Words with this suffix include:

• adhocracy
• aristocracy
• autocracy
• bureaucracy
• corporatocracy
• democracy
• gerontocracy
• kakistocracy
• kleptocracy
• krytocracyA Krytocracy is a government ruled by judges. Perhaps the most famous instance of its use was during a discussion between supreme court justice Stanley Reed and his law clerk about Brown v. Board of Education. The clerk mentioned that the then still-evolv
• meritocracyMeritocracy is a system of government based on rule by ability rather than by wealth or social position. Ironically, the term was first used in a pejorative sense in Michael Young's 1958 book Rise of the Meritocracy which was written from the standpoint o
• oligocracy
• plutocracyA plutocracy is a government system where wealth is the principal basis of power (from the Greek ploutos meaning wealth). The term plutocracy is generally used to describe two unrelated phenomena. In writings about history, plutocracy is the political con
• pornocracyPornocracy is a term that has been used to mean government or domination of government by prostitutes. In history, it refers specifically to a period of papacy in the early tenth century, beginning with Pope Sergius III from 904 and ending with the death
• stratocracy
• technocracyTechnocracy is an organizational system in which decision makers are selected on the basis of technological knowledge, often because of some conflict or competition where technological escalation is a constant feature. Terminology The term was coined in 1
• thalassocracyA thalassocracy is a state whose realms are primarily marine; an empire at sea, such as the Thracian and Phoenician, the latter being based on land within the borders of the cities of Tyre, Sidon and Carthage. The term (a combination of the Greek "thalass
• theocracyTheocracy is a form of government in which the governmental rulers are identical with the leaders of the dominant religion. In a theocracy, governmental policies are either identical with or strongly influenced by the principles of the majority religion,
• timocracy