democratia

Forms

dēmocratia f (genitive dēmocratiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek δημοκρατία (dēmokratía, “popular government”),^[1][2][3][4] from δῆμος (dêmos, “people”) and κράτος (krátos, “rule, strength”).^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first instance is in Hegesippus, who says that democracy prevailed up to a certain time.^[3][2] Jerome's Chronicle uses it of the democracy restored to the Athenians.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It remained a rare word in Late Latin; a plural in Servius on the Aeneid is now read in Greek by the editors.^[2]

It came back with the Latin translations of Aristotle: Albert the Great uses it often in his commentaries on the Ethics and the Politics, defining it as the rule of the people and at times confusing it with timocracy.^[4] Thomas Aquinas calls it the power of the people, and in De regno the unjust rule of many, in which the common people oppress the rich “as if the whole people were one tyrant”.^[7] For Ockham it is a corrupt form of polity, and for Fortescue the rule of many bad men.^[8] Guarino of Verona glosses the Greek word in 1407.^[9] English democracy came from it through French.^[5]

Timeline

• Late Latin – Hegesippus and Jerome's Chronicle.^[3]
• 13th century – Albert the Great, in his commentaries on Aristotle.^[4][6][5]
• 3rd quarter of the 13th century – Thomas Aquinas, of unjust rule by the many.^[7][6]
• 1407 – Guarino of Verona glosses the Greek word.^[9]
• 1570s – English democracy, through French.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. democracy, rule by the people.^[3][2][4][1]
2. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) The corrupt rule of the many, opposed to a just polity.^[7][8]

Related words

• English democracy

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de