Theocracy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /θiːˈɒkrÉ™sɪ/

Origin

- + cracy + -, originally from Ancient Greek θεοκρατία (theokratia, "rule of (a) God"), a term coined in the 1st century by Josephus (Against Apion 2.17) in reference to the kingdom of Israel. Attested in English from the 1630s, first by John Donne in a 1631 sermon: The Jews were onely under a Theocratie, an immediate government of God.

Full definition of theocracy

Noun

1. Government under the control of a state-sponsored religion.

2. Rule by a god.

Hyponyms

• sharia law