'autocratship' is formed in modern English from 'autocrat' + the noun-forming suffix '-ship'. 'Autocrat' ultimately comes from Greek 'autokrátēs' (αὐτοκράτης), where 'autó-' meant 'self' and 'krátos' meant 'power' or 'rule'.

'autokrátēs' (Greek) was borrowed into Late Latin/Medieval Latin as 'autocrates' and then into modern European languages (via French/Latin influences) as 'autocrat'. English later combined 'autocrat' with the Old English/Proto-Germanic-derived suffix '-ship' (from Old English 'scip') to form 'autocratship'.

Initially the Greek root conveyed 'self-rule' or 'having power oneself'; over time the compound English form came to mean 'the condition or period of rule by an autocrat', i.e., the fact or office of autocratic governance.