Etymograph

English

democratise

Democratise comes from French démocratiser ‘to democratize’, 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–presentdémocratiser4‘to democratize’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2026democratise4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δημοκρατία
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French démocratie
  3. 3 Wiktionary, French démocratiser
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English democratise
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2026, Martin Gelin: “Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Estonia and Ireland top V-Dem’s…”.

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, French démocratiser‘democracy’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentdémocratiserWiktionary, English democratise‘to democratize’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2026democratiseWiktionary, English democratise. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2026, Martin Gelin: “Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Estonia and Ireland top V-Dem’s…”

Formed from democrat + -ise

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

…

Medieval Latin dēmocratia ‘democracy’

Middle French democratie ‘democracy’

French démocratie ‘democracy’

French démocrate

English democrat

Linked words

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

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

Today it means

verb —

Sources

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

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