Politics & SocietyGreek → English
Autarky
/ˈɔːtɑːki/noun
An economy that meets its own needs without imports.
The Greek roots
αὐτός
autós
self
ἀρκέω
arkéō
to suffice, be enough
Literally: “self-sufficiency”
The story of the word
For Aristotle autarkeia was a quality of a good life and a well-run city, not a trade policy: the household that needs nothing from outside is the model, and the polis is the household scaled up. The twentieth century turned it into a war aim, with Germany, Italy and Japan all chasing it through the 1930s. Keep it clear of autocracy, which shares only the first half and means self-rule by one person.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → English
- First recorded
- 17th century
Same family
autarchyautonomyautopsyautomatic
In a sentence
Sanctions pushed the country towards a kind of forced autarky, and living standards followed.