Monarchy
noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A government in which sovereignty is embodied within a single, today usually hereditary head of state (whether as a figurehead or as a powerful ruler). countable, uncountable
"An absolute monarchy is a monarchy where the monarch is legally the ultimate authority in all temporal matters."
- 2 an autocracy governed by a monarch who usually inherits the authority wordnet
- 3 The territory ruled over by a monarch; a kingdom. countable, uncountable
"What scourge for perjury / Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence?"
- 4 A form of government where sovereignty is embodied by a single ruler in a state and his high aristocracy representing their separate divided lands within the state and their low aristocracy representing their separate divided fiefs. countable, uncountable
- 5 States based on a system of governance headed by a king or a queen. countable, uncountable
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy."
Etymology
From Old French monarchie, from Late Latin monarchia, from Ancient Greek μοναρχία (monarkhía), from μόνος (mónos, “only”) + ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “power, authority”). By surface analysis, mon- (“one, single”) + -archy (“rule, command”).
Related phrases
More for "monarchy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.