autarchy
|au-tar-chy|
🇺🇸
/ˈɔːtɚki/
🇬🇧
/ˈɔːtɑːki/
self-rule / self-sufficiency
Etymology
'autarchy' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'autarkhia', where 'autos' meant 'self' and 'arkhein' meant 'to rule'.
'autarchy' changed from the Late/Medieval Latin and Greek forms (Latin 'autarchia', Greek 'autarkhia') and passed into Middle English (e.g. Old French/Medieval Latin influences) before becoming modern English 'autarchy'.
Initially it referred to 'self-rule' or 'self-sufficiency' in the Greek sense; over time it also acquired related senses such as economic independence and, in some contexts, the idea of absolute rule.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the condition or quality of being self-governing; political independence or self-rule.
After decades of negotiations, the territory finally achieved autarchy and formed its own government.
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Noun 2
economic self-sufficiency; a policy or state in which a country or region seeks to be independent of external trade (synonymous with autarky).
The government's autarchy policy prioritized domestic production over imports.
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Noun 3
(Rare) Absolute sovereignty or rule by a single person; autocracy.
In some historical writings, autarchy is used to describe the unchecked power of a monarch.
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Last updated: 2025/11/22 14:26