autocratic

Etymology

It is formed from English autocrat + -ic,^[2][3] perhaps after French autocratique (1768);^[2] Etymonline and Barnhart take it directly from the French adjective.^[4][5] The noun is from French autocrate,^[6][5][4][7] from Ancient Greek αὐτοκρατής (autokratḗs, “ruling by oneself, absolute”),^[2][7][6] formed from αὐτο- (auto-, “self”) and κράτος (krátos, “strength, power, rule”).^[2][7][5] English had the earlier adjectives autocratoric, from the 1670s, and autocratical, from 1767.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of, relating to or characteristic of autocracy or an autocrat; imperious: 1769, in the Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser.^[2][8] Earlier editions put the word later: Etymonline dates it to 1815, in reference to Napoleon,^[4] Dictionary.com to 1815–25,^[3] and Barnhart and the 1989 edition of the OED to 1823, Barnhart in Byron's Don Juan.^[5][9]

Semantic evolution

The noun autocrat was first used in English of the rulers of Russia, who took it as a title, and then of Napoleon.^[4][2] The adjective described rule held by one person without restriction; from the start it also described the manner of such a person: imperious and domineering.^[2][8] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate distinguishes the two uses, of an autocracy (absolute government) and of a person who resembles an autocrat (despotic),^[10] and Collins gives the second as "domineering or dictatorial", applicable to anyone.^[11]

Timeline

• 1769 – of or relating to autocracy or an autocrat; imperious, domineering.^[2][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or being an autocracy; holding absolute and unrestricted power: an autocratic regime.^[8][10][11]
2. Behaving like an autocrat; domineering, dictatorial or despotic: The new manager's autocratic style drove away half the staff.^[11][8][2]

Word family

• autocratically

Related words

• autocracy
• autocrat
• democratic
• bureaucratic

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins