anarchy
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English
Etymology
From New Latin anarchia, from Ancient Greek ἀναρχία (anarkhía). By surface analysis, an- + -archy.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈæn.ə.ki/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- (US) enPR: ănʹär-kē, IPA(key): /ˈæn.ɑɹ.ki/, ,
Audio (New Jersey): (file) Audio (Texas): (file)
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈæn.ə.ki/
Noun
anarchy (countable and uncountable, plural anarchies)
- (uncountable) The state of a society being without authorities or an authoritative governing body.
- (uncountable) Anarchism; the political theory that a community is best organized by the voluntary cooperation of individuals, rather than by a government, which is regarded as being coercive by nature.
- (countable) A chaotic and confusing absence of any form of political authority or government.
- 1853, Leon Faucher, “IV.”, in Thomson Hankey, transl., Remarks on the Production of the Precious Metals, and on the Demonetization of Gold in Several Countries in Europe, 2nd revised edition, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., →OCLC, page 50:
- Anarchy still reigns in this new country;—not only have the miners to defend their persons and their acquisitions against the incursions from Indian tribes; not only are crimes and offences common (lynch law maintaining a permitted existence instead of laws and police); but every one appears to hold his property by right of first comer: a miner choses the spot he likes best; a strong arm and a carbine, with a steady eye, are his title deeds. To seize upon a rich "placer" from a miner too weak to resist, is called in the slang of the district, to "jump a claim." The President of the United States himself, stated in his last message, that "The mineral lands should remain free to every citizen;" and the Secretary of State has added, "that the right of occupancy should be submitted only to such laws as the miners themselves thought fit to make."
- Confusion in general; disorder.
- It was total anarchy in the clothes shop on Black Friday as soon as they opened the doors.
Synonyms
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “all senses”): nonanarchy (rare)
- (antonym(s) of “disorder”): order
Derived terms
Translations
absence of any form of political authority or government
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political disorder and confusion
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.