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 How does a roll call of modern autocrats, and wannabe autocrats, like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, India’s Narendra Modi, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro implement this modus operandi for the latest model of autocracy? Cecilia Menjívar, Scientific American, 23 Sep. 2024 Harris has placed herself squarely in the tradition of recent Democratic administrations, especially Biden’s, arguing that the United States must lead strong international coalitions to contain autocrats such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2024 Turkey, with a religious autocrat as prime minister, has seen a wave of democratic participation in its cities, particularly Ankara and Izmir. Joe Mathews, The Mercury News, 5 Oct. 2024 Now, that's because Nasrallah didn't rule as an autocrat. CBS News, 29 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for autocrat 

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 31 Oct. 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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