autarchy means A condition of absolute power. It carries an Arena rating of 1617, earned across 51 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, autarchy ranks #1,418 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #2,037 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #3,195 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,344 of 17,131 for Scariest Words.
autarchy is pronounced /ˈɔːtəki/.
Why “autarchy” is a great word
AUTARCHY — [Noun] A condition of absolute, self-contained sovereignty, vested in a single ruler or entity. From Medieval Latin autarchia, from Koine Greek αὐταρχία (autarkhía, "absolute power, sovereignty"), from αὔταρχος (aútarkhos, "autocratic"), from αὐτ- (aut-, "self") + ἄρχω (árkhō, "to rule, govern"). First recorded in English 1655–65. Unlike "autarky," which denotes economic self-sufficiency, or "democracy," which disperses power among the people, autarchy is the stark concentration of rule unto a single will. It is the sealed chamber where no voice echoes but one, the map redrawn by a solitary hand, and the unblinking eye gazing from the state portrait—the ultimate, lonely logic of the self as sovereign.
Etymology
From Medieval Latin autarchia, from Koine Greek αὐταρχία (autarkhía, “absolute power, sovereignty, autocracy”), from αὔταρχος (aútarkhos, “autocratic”), from αὐτ- (aut-, “self”) + ἄρχω (árkhō, “to rule, govern”).
noun
- A condition of absolute power.
- Autocracy (absolute rule by a single person).
- Sovereignty or self-government (national political independence).
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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