Etymograph

English

democrat

Democrat comes from French démocratie ‘democracy’, and goes back to Ancient Greek δῆμος ‘common people", "assembly of the people’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῆμος1‘common people", "assembly of the people’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδημοκρᾰτῐ́ᾱ2
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500dēmocratia2‘democracy’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600democratie2‘democracy’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentdémocratie3‘democracy’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentdémocrate3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2011democrat3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δημοκρατία
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French démocratie
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English democrat
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2011, Wesley Yang, Dictators: “Democrats have to please a large segment of the…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῆμοςWiktionary, Ancient Greek δημοκρατία‘common people", "assembly of the people’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδημοκρᾰτῐ́ᾱWiktionary, French démocratie
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500dēmocratiaWiktionary, French démocratie‘democracy’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600democratieWiktionary, French démocratie‘democracy’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentdémocratieWiktionary, English democrat‘democracy’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentdémocrateWiktionary, English democrat
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2011democratWiktionary, English democrat. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2011, Wesley Yang, Dictators: “Democrats have to please a large segment of the…”

Formed from demo- + -crat

Ancient Greek δῆμος ‘people’

English demo-

Linked words

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

academic, pandemic, endemic, demos, demography, demiurge, demotic, 29 more

Today it means

noun A supporter of democracy; an advocate of democratic politics (originally (historical) as opposed to the aristocrats in Revolutionary France).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “democrat”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek δημοκρατία, French démocratie. 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 / democrat

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