Thursday, November 17, 2011

Word of the Day: Anarchy

Good afternoon! The word of the day is

- Anarchy -

pronounced [an-er-kee]

noun
1. a state of society without government or law.

2.
political and social disorder due to the absence of governmental control: The death of the king was followed by a year of anarchy.

3.
a theory that regards the absence of all direct or coercive government as a political ideal and that proposes the cooperative and voluntary association of individuals and groups as the principal mode of organized society.

4.
confusion; chaos; disorder: Intellectual and moral anarchy followed his loss of faith.

Origin
1530s, from M.L. anarchia, from Gk. anarkhia "lack of a leader," noun of state from anarkhos "rulerless," from an- "without" + arkhos "leader" (see archon). Anarch (n.) "leader of leaderlessness," a deliciously paradoxical word, was used by Milton, Pope, Byron. Anarcho-syndicalism is first recorded 1913.

Can be confused with
anarchism

Related Words
lawlessness

dictionary.reference.com/browse/anarchy