monarquía

Forms

monarquía f (plural monarquías)^[1] Old Spanish texts spell it monarchía or monarchia, with the Latin ⟨ch⟩, into the 17th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin monarchia (“sole rule, monarchy”), which is from Ancient Greek μοναρχία (monarkhía).^[4][5][6][1] The Late Latin noun is a post-classical loan from Greek, used for the rule of one person.^[7] The Greek word is formed from μόναρχος (mónarkhos, “monarch”) with the noun suffix -ία (-ía); by surface analysis it is μόνος (mónos, “sole, only”) and -αρχία (-arkhía, “rule”), from ἄρχω (árkhō, “I rule”).^[1][5]

The DCECH treats the word in its article on anarquía, with the other learned compounds of the Greek verb: monarca, first recorded about 1400, and oligarquía.^[4][5] The same learned word is Portuguese monarquia, Catalan monarquia, French monarchie and Italian monarchia.^[1][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DCECH's first record is stanza 1097 of the Libro de Alexandre (1240–1250, in an early 15th-century copy): Alexander reads in Daniel's prophecy that a Greek will turn Asia into a monarchía, a single empire, and takes the prophecy for himself.^[4][2][10] In Alfonso X's General Estoria the word names the rule of one lord over the world or a kingdom, and the fifth part explains it from Greek monos “one” and archos “prince”.^[2][11]

Semantic evolution

Texts from the Americas speak of the universal monarquía of the Spanish crown (Chile, 1569).^[3] Terreros (1787) defines it as a large state governed by the will of one king, and already distinguishes absolute monarchies from limited ones.^[12] The Academy's 1843 dictionary adds the sense “form of government in which one person rules under fixed laws”, and Salvá (1846) notes that the idea of hereditary succession in one family had joined that of rule by one.^[13][14] Domínguez (1846) lists constitutional, hereditary and elective monarchies.^[15] Today the word names the system of government, a state with that system, and the period during which a country has had it.^[16][17]

Timeline

• 1240–1250 – the Libro de Alexandre uses monarchía for a single empire.^[4][2]
• 1270–1284 – Alfonso X's Estoria de España and General Estoria use the word and explain its Greek parts.^[11][2]
• c. 1400 – monarca “monarch” is first recorded, in the Danza de la Muerte.^[4][5]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija glosses it principado solo “sole principality”.^[18]
• 1549 – the first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[3]
• 1843 – the Academy's dictionary adds the sense “form of government”.^[13]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary derives it from Greek.^[19]

Meanings

Noun

1. monarchy: a form of government in which a king or queen (rey or reina) holds the highest office of the state, usually for life and by inheritance.^[16][17][1]
2. A state governed in this way: Suecia es una monarquía.^[16][17]
3. The period during which a country has been ruled by a monarchy.^[16][17]

Word family

• monárquico
• monarquismo

Related words

• monarca
• anarquía
• oligarquía
• Latin monarchia

Usage notes

Set phrases are monarquía absoluta, in which all powers belong to the monarch, and monarquía constitucional, in which the monarch shares power with an elected parliament.^[16][17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. monarquía
3. ^ a b c Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. monarchía
4. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 252
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. anarquía
6. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. monarquía
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. monarquia
9. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. monarquia
10. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. monarquía
11. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. monarquía
12. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 608
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 483
14. ^ Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 727
15. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1214
16. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es
17. ^ a b c d e Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos
18. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. monarquía
19. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 669