Politics & SocietyGreek → English
Autocrat
/ˈɔːtəkræt/noun
A ruler who holds and answers for absolute power alone.
The Greek roots
αὐτοκράτωρ
autokrátōr
absolute ruler
Literally: “self-ruler”
Follow a root:αὐτοκράτωρ1 word
The story of the word
Autokratōr was the Greek word chosen to render the Latin title imperator, and it stayed in use for a thousand years of Byzantine emperors. English picked it up from French around 1800, and for most of that century it meant one specific man, the Tsar of All the Russias. Only later did it loosen into a description of anyone who rules a country, a company or a kitchen without consulting.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → French → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
autocracyautonomydemocrataristocrat
In a sentence
He ran the newsroom like an autocrat and produced the best paper in the country.