μοναρχία

Forms

μονᾰρχῐ́ᾱ (monarkhíā) f (genitive μονᾰρχῐ́ᾱς); first declension^[1] Ionic μουναρχίη (mounarkhíē).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a derivative from Ancient Greek μόναρχος (mónarkhos, “monarch”) + -ία (-ía).^[1] By surface analysis it is μόνος (mónos, “alone, sole”) with -αρχία (-arkhía, “rule, government”), which belongs to ἄρχω (árkhō, “to rule”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Alcaeus is the first to use it, of the rule of Myrsilus and Pittacus at Mytilene, and in archaic poetry it meant the same as τυραννίς (turannís), tyranny.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Archaic aristocratic poets treated sole rule as a danger to the community.^[4] In tragedy the word is used of the kings of myth, and Euripides' Theseus says he has put the people itself into sole power, that is, made it sovereign.^[4][3][2] In Aristophanes' Wasps a character is abused as ὦ μισόδημε καὶ μοναρχίας ἐραστά, “you hater of the people and lover of monarchy!” (Wasps 474).^[2] In Herodotus' constitutional debate it covers both selfish rulers and those who care for the people.^[4]

Plato counts both kingship and tyranny as monarchy, and Aristotle makes it the general name of one-man rule, divided into a good form, kingship, and a bad one, tyranny.^[2][4] Xenophon uses it for the sole command of an army, and Plutarch for the Roman dictatorship.^[2][3] Smith notes that the term applied to such governments whether hereditary or elective, legal or usurped.^[5] Coptic borrowed it.^[6]

In medieval vernacular Greek it meant the rule of a monarch, a monarchy as a form of government or as a state, and, in theology, belief in one God.^[7] Modern Greek keeps it as a learned word, with phrases for absolute, constitutional and parliamentary monarchy.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 7th–6th century BC – Alcaeus uses it of the rule of Myrsilus and Pittacus at Mytilene.^[4][2][10]
• 5th century BC – Aeschylus, Herodotus and Sophocles use it for sole rule, and Euripides for the sovereignty of the people.^[2][3][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato includes kingship and tyranny in it, and Xenophon uses it for a general's sole command.^[2][10]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle makes it the general term for one-man rule, good or bad.^[4][10]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for the Roman dictatorship.^[2][3][10]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for a monarchy and, in theology, for belief in one God.^[7]
• Modern Greek – The learned μοναρχία (monarchía) names the monarchical form of government.^[8][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Rule by one person, monarchy, whether kingship or tyranny.^[2][3]
2. Of Rome, the dictatorship.^[2][3]
3. The sovereignty of the people.^[3]
4. The sole command of an army.^[2][3]
5. (Medieval Greek, theology) Belief in one God, monotheism.^[7]

Related words

• μόναρχος (mónarkhos)
• μόνος (mónos)
• ἄρχω (árkhō)
• τυραννίς (turannís)

Usage notes

LSJ records a different word, the neuter plural μονάρχια (monárkhia), the name of a festival on Kalymnos.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
6. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
7. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
10. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge