democratic
/ˌdeməˈkɹætɪk/deh-muh-KRA-tik
/ˌdɛməˈkɹætɪk/deh-muh-KRA-tik
Meaningrelating to democrats or democracy
Common meaning: ruled by the people
Other meanings: treating people as equals
- demoa country district; the ordinary peopleLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 183 · scan
- cratstrength, power, ruleLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 842 · scan
- icadjective ending: relating to
‘a country district’ + ‘strength, power, rule’ → democratic
Journey through time
Only the demo half is traced; the path of crat is not in our sources yet.
demo Ancient Greek δῆμος (dêmos) “a country district; the ordinary people”
- Greekδῆμος (dêmos)‘a country district’
crat Greek κράτος “strength, power, rule” · path not traced
Parts join in English as democrat.
- Englishdemocrat‘a supporter of government by the people’
- Englishformed in English from democratdemocratic‘ruled by the people’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from democrat + -ic.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), DEMOCRACY, p.160 · scan
Roots
- δῆμος (dêmos) Ancient Greek “a country district; the ordinary people”
- κράτος Greek “strength, power, rule”
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