Anarchy

How to spell anarchy

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce anarchy

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does anarchy mean?

1. nounA state of lawlessness or political disorder caused by the absence of effective government or authority.

Anarchy in a sentence

• When the strike halted every service, the city slid into anarchy.

• The collapse of the central bank threatened economic anarchy.

Where does anarchy come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word descends from the Greek anarkhia, which meant 'absence of a leader' or 'state without government'. It was built from the prefix an-, meaning 'without', joined to arkhos, meaning 'ruler' or 'leader', the same root that gives us 'monarch' (a single ruler) and 'matriarch'. The Greek noun passed into Medieval Latin as anarchia and then into French as anarchie, from which English took it during the late 1500s. At first it described the literal lack of a sovereign or governing authority, but the meaning soon broadened to cover the chaos and lawlessness that people associate with that condition. Remembering the buried 'arch' for 'ruler' explains the otherwise surprising 'ch' spelling, since the letters carry the hard Greek k sound rather than the softer English 'ch'.

How the word is built

• an- (without)
• arch (ruler, from Greek arkhos)
• -y (state or condition)