Etymograph

English

democracy

Democracy comes from Middle French democratie, from Ancient Greek δημοκρατία ‘popular government’, from δῆμος ‘the people’ + κράτος ‘rule’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῆμος1‘the common people; district’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδημοκρατία2dēmokrătĭ́ā‘democracy, popular government’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600democratie2‘democracy’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1866democracy2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δημοκρατία
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English democracy
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1866, J. Arthur Partridge, On Democracy: “And the essential value and power of Democracy consists…”.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῆμοςWiktionary, Ancient Greek δημοκρατία‘the common people; district’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδημοκρατίαWiktionary, English democracydēmokrătĭ́ā‘democracy, popular government’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600democratieWiktionary, English democracy‘democracy’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1866democracyWiktionary, English democracy. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1866, J. Arthur Partridge, On Democracy: “And the essential value and power of Democracy consists…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with democracy, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Ancient Greek δῆμος ‘common people", "assembly of the people’

29 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun Rule by the people, especially as a form of government, such as

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “democracy”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek δημοκρατία. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek δῆμος / democracy