autarchy

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɔːtəki/, /-tɑː-/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) enPR: ôʹtär'kē, IPA^(key): /ˈɔˌtɑɹki/
• Homophone: autarky
• Hyphenation: aut‧archy

Etymology 1

From Medieval Latin autarchia, from Koine Greek αὐταρχία (autarkhía, “absolute power, sovereignty, autocracy”), from αὔταρχος (aútarkhos, “autocratic”), from αὐτ- (aut-, “self”) +‎ ἄρχω (árkhō, “to rule, govern”).

Noun

autarchy (countable and uncountable, plural autarchies)

1. A condition of absolute power.
2. (government) Autocracy (absolute rule by a single person).
   • 1964, Jan Morris, “Envoi: State of Being”, in Spain, Faber and Faber, published 2008, →ISBN:

     Like Philip's, Franco's autarchy was shrouded in religiosity—not Christianity alone, but also a sort of dim Wagnerian vision of hero-gods and Valhallas, a gloomy level of devotion on which paganism, Catholicism and the apotheosis of the State could conveniently be mingled.

3. (politics) Sovereignty or self-government (national political independence).

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:government

Usage notes

Not to be confused with autarky (“personal condition or state of self-reliance; (policy of) national economic self-sufficiency; self-sufficient country or region”), even though the latter word is sometimes also spelled autarchy (see etymology 2).

Derived terms

• autarch
• autarchic
• autarchical
• autarchically
• autarchism
• autarchist

 

Related terms

• autarky
• autocracy

Translations

condition of absolute power

• Belarusian: аўтаркі́я f (aŭtarkíja)
• Bulgarian: авта́рхия f (avtárhija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 專制／专制 (zh) (zhuānzhì)

• Finnish: itsevaltius (fi)
• French: autarchie (fr) f
• German: Autarkie (de) f
• Irish: átarcacht f
• Italian: autarchia (it) f
• Japanese: 専制 (ja) (せんせい, sensei)
• Kazakh: автаркия (avtarkiä)
• Korean: 전제(專制) (ko) (jeonje)
• Macedonian: авта́рхија f (avtárhija)
• Polish: autarchia (pl) f, autokratyzm (pl) m, jednowładztwo n, jedynowładztwo n, samowładztwo n, autokracja (pl) f
• Portuguese: autarquia (pt)
• Russian: автарки́я (ru) f (avtarkíja), автокра́тия (ru) f (avtokrátija)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: аутархија f

  Roman: autarhija (sh)

• Spanish: autarquía (es) f, autarcía (es) f
• Ukrainian: авта́ркія (uk) f (avtárkija), автаркі́я (uk) f (avtarkíja)

autocratic government — see autocracy

condition of economic self-sufficiency

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 封閉經濟／封闭经济 (fēngbì jīngjì)

• Finnish: omavaraisuus (fi), autarkia (fi)
• Kazakh: автаркия (avtarkiä)
• Macedonian: авта́ркија f (avtárkija)

Etymology 2

See autarky.

Noun

autarchy (countable and uncountable, plural autarchies)

1. Alternative spelling of autarky (“personal condition or state of self-reliance; (policy of) national economic self-sufficiency; self-sufficient country or region”)

Further reading

• autarchism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “autarchy, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “autarchy²”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC, page 386, column 1.
• William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “autarchy”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, revised edition, volume I, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 386, column 1.
• “autarchy”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.