Etymograph

English

laocracy

Laocracy comes from Ancient Greek λαός ‘people’, and goes back to δῆμος.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῆμος1dêmos‘common people”, “assembly of the people’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλαός1laós‘people’
  3. Greek1453–presentλαοκρατία1laokratía
  4. Englishtodaylaocracy1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English laocracy

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῆμοςWiktionary, English laocracydêmos‘common people”, “assembly of the people’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλαόςWiktionary, English laocracylaós‘people’
  3. Greek1453–presentλαοκρατίαWiktionary, English laocracylaokratía
  4. EnglishtodaylaocracyWiktionary, English laocracy

Linked words

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

academic, democratic, democrat, democracy, pandemic, demos, endemic, demography, demiurge, demotic, 26 more

through Ancient Greek λαός ‘people’

laity, 1 more

Today it means

noun Direct democracy, as opposed to representative parliamentary democracy.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “laocracy”. 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 / laocracy

Shirt and support for this word