démocratie French · revision 15948

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1370, Oresme|origins=grc δῆμος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /de.mɔ.kʁa.si/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''démocratie''' ''f'' (plural démocraties)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is borrowed from [[grc|δημοκρατία|tr=dēmokratía|t=rule of the people]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|3, 37b) through the Latin translations of Aristotle ([[la-lat|dēmocratia]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Greek word is formed from [[m|grc|δῆμος|tr=dêmos|t=district; people]] and [[m|grc|κρατέω|tr=kratéō|t=to rule]] (see [[-cratie]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Oresme, in the glossary of his translation of Aristotle's ''Ethics'' (1370), defines ''democratie'' as ''espece de policie en laquele la multitude des populaires a domination''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ For centuries the word named the government of the ancient Greek cities.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Under the Revolution (1791) it was applied to contemporary politics in opposition to ''aristocratie'', a sense dominant since the early 19th century, Barnave (1791–1793) also used it for “the people” as a class.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(BHVF) By metonymy a ''démocratie'' is a state with this system (''la France est une démocratie'', Littré).^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ The 20th century multiplied qualified forms: ''démocratie directe'', ''parlementaire'', ''libérale'', and ''démocratie populaire'' for the Communist regimes, ''démocratie chrétienne'' appears in a translation of an encyclical of Leo XIII (1901).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''Démocrate'', formed in 1550, spread under the Revolution, and ''démocratique'' goes back to Oresme.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1370 – ''Democratie'' and ''democratique'' in Oresme.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1550 – ''Démocrate''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1568 – ''Démocratiser''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1791 – Applied to modern politics.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1797 – ''Démocratisation''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1901 – ''Démocratie chrétienne''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|democracy|alt=Democracy]], government by the people: ''démocratie directe'', ''démocratie représentative''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # A democratic state: ''les démocraties occidentales'', ''démocratie populaire''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Democratic principles applied to an organisation: ''la démocratie syndicale''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A political movement: ''la démocratie chrétienne''.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[démocrate]]

+ * [[démocratique]]

+ * [[démocratiser]]

+ * [[démocratisation]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aristocratie]]

+ * [[démagogie]]

+ * [[grc|δημοκρατία|tr=dēmokratía]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}