indicating a type of government or rule: plutocracy, mobocracy
See also -crat
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
-cracy, suffix.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- -cracy comes ultimately from Greek, where it has the meaning "power;
rule;
government'', and is attached to roots to form nouns that mean "rule;
government'': auto- + -cracy → autocracy (= government by one ruler);
theo- ("God'') + -cracy → theocracy (= a country governed by the rule of God or a god).Compare -crat.
-cracy,
- a combining form occurring in loanwords from Greek (aristocracy;
democracy);
on this model used, with the meaning "rule,'' "government,'' "governing body,'' to form abstract nouns from stems of other origin:mobocracy; bureaucracy.Cf. -crat.
- Greek -kratia, equivalent. to krát(os) rule, strength, might (akin to hard) + -ia -y3
- Late Latin -cratia
- Middle French -cracie (now -cratie)
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'-cracy' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
-acy
- -crat
- androcracy
- aristocracy
- autocracy
- bureaucracy
- craton
- democracy
- dulocracy
- gerontocracy
- gynecocracy
- hagiocracy
- hard
- hierocracy
- isocracy
- kakistocracy
- kleptocracy
- mediocracy
- meritocracy
- meritocrat
- mobocracy
- monocracy
- ochlocracy
- pantisocracy
- plutocracy
- plutocrat
- slavocracy
- sociocracy
- squattocracy
- stratocracy
- technocracy
- thalassocracy
- theocracy
- timocracy