Politics & SocietyGreek → English
Democrat
/ˈdɛməkræt/noun
Someone who supports government by the people, or a member of the US Democratic Party.
The Greek roots
δῆμος
dêmos
the people, a district
κράτος
krátos
power, rule
Literally: “people-power man”
The story of the word
The noun is a back-formation from democracy, minted in French as démocrate during the Revolution and imported into English in the 1790s as a label for a political type. Δῆμος meant the local parish as much as the populace, which is why Athenian citizens were registered by deme. Its other descendant is epidemic, a thing that comes upon the people.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → French → English
- First recorded
- 1790s
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
democracydemagogueepidemicendemic
In a sentence
She has voted for a Democrat in every election since she turned eighteen.