anarchy English · revision 983

11 Oct 2026, 04:03 by bogdan “New entry from the dictionary sources (AHD, Barnhart, Etymonline, MW, OED, RHWU, Wiktionary)” current version
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈæn.ə.ki/ ''(UK)''; /ˈæn.ɚ.ki/, /ˈæn.ɑɹ.ki/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[bor|frm|anarchie]] or directly [[der|la-med|anarchia]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|ἀναρχία|tr=anarkhía|t=lack of a leader]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''ánarkhos'' “without a ruler”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[af|grc|ἀν-|ἀρχός|tr1=an-|tr2=arkhós|t1=without|t2=leader, ruler]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Absence of government; a state of lawlessness and political disorder (1539).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ In Athens the Greek word was used of the year 404 BC, when there was no archon.^(Etymonline) In English the sense widened in the 1650s and 1660s to the absence of authority or order in any sphere.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In the 19th century it was applied to the political theory, formulated by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in the 1830s and 1840s, of a society organized by voluntary cooperation without government (1850).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) ''Anarchist'' dates from 1678.^(Barnhart 1995)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1539 – absence of government, lawlessness.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)
+ * 1656 – moral disorder.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1667 – absence of order in any sphere.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1678 – ''anarchist''.^(Barnhart 1995)
+ * 1850 – a society without government, as a political ideal.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # Absence of any form of political authority or government.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # Political and social disorder and lawlessness due to the absence of government.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # Absence of any order or common principle; [[chaos]] or confusion.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A society of individuals living in freedom without government, as a political ideal; [[anarchism]].^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[anarchic]]
+ * [[anarchism]]
+ * [[anarchist]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[monarchy]]
+ * [[oligarchy]]
+ * [[archon]]
+ * [[chaos]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}