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Added 10 October 2026

theocracy

/θiːˈɒkɹəsi/ noun

Coined: 1st century, by Against Apion Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about theocracy at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A political unit governed by a deity (or by officials thought to be divinely guided).
The belief in government by divine guidance.

Origin

From theo- + -cracy, originally from Ancient Greek θεοκρατία (theokratía, “rule of (a) God”), a term coined in the 1st century by Josephus (Against Apion 2.17) in reference to the ancient Israelite polity under the Mosaic covenant. Attested in English from the 1620s, first by John Donne in A Sermon upon the fifth of November 1622. being the Anniversary celebration of our Deliverance from the Powder Treason: "The Jews were onely under a Theocratie, an immediate government of God..."

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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