There are lots of words that we use to describe various aspects of government. The etymologies of a few of these words are briefly described below.
Republic
The United States can be described as a republic, a word which entered into the English language about 1600 with the meaning of “a state in which supreme power rests in the people via elected representatives.” The word republic came from the Middle French république which came from the Latin respublica which has the meaning “the common weal, a commonwealth, state, republic.” Respublica comes from res meaning “affair, matter, thing,” plus publica meaning “public.”
Plutocracy
The United States today is often described as a plutocracy meaning that it is governed by the wealthy for the benefit of the wealthy. The word plutocracy has its origins in the Greek god Pluto, the god of material and monetary wealth. In the Greek pantheon, Pluto has the responsibility of distributing wealth among the mortals. However, Pluto had been blinded by the god Zeus and therefore he is unable to see the actual behavior of the mortals. Thus wealth is distributed without regard for the evil, immoral, or wicked behavior of those receiving it.
Monarchy
For the English through much of their history, the only natural and true form of government was a monarchy, a form of government in which the head of state was a person of royal heritage—a king or a queen—whose lineage had been selected by a deity to rule others. The word monarchy came into the English language in the fourteenth century with the meaning of “rule by one person.” Monarchy came from the Old French monarchie meaning “sovereignty, absolute power” which was from the Late Latin monarchia which came from the Greek monarkhia meaning “ruling of one”—monos (“alone”) plus arkein (“to rule”).
King
In English, a male monarch is called a king. According to one etymology, king comes from the Old English cyning meaning “king or ruler” which is from the Proto-Germanic *kuningaz. On the other hand, it may come from the Old English cynn meaning “family, race.” Cynn is also the origin of the English word kin.
Cynn is from the Proto-Germanic *kunja- meaning “family” which is from the Proto-Indo-European root *gene- meaning “to give birth.”
Queen
In English, a female monarch is called a queen. Queen came from the Old English cwen meaning “queen, female ruler of a state, woman, wife” which in turn came from the Proto-Germanic *kwoeniz which was from the Proto-Indo-European root *gwen- meaning “woman.” The original sense of *gwen- seems to have been wife, which Old English specialized to refer to “the wife of a king.”
In the Indo-European languages, English is one of the few languages in which the word for queen is not a feminine derivative of the word for king.
In 1924, queen began being used as a slang term for a flamboyant or effeminate gay man. This term can be either pejorative or a form of self identification.
President
In 1787, the United States Constitution describes the chief executive officer of the republic as the president. In the late fourteenth century, the word president meant the “appointed governor of a province; chosen leader of a body of persons” and its etymology is from the Old French president which came directly from the Latin praesidentum.
The title president had been used in Middle English for the heads of religious houses, hospitals, colleges and universities. In 1608, the title president began to be used as the title for the leader of some of the American colonies. In 1774, it was used for the officer in charge of the Continental Congress.
Democracy
A democracy is a form of government which involves the common people, an idea which is often repugnant to the wealthy aristocracy. The word democracy came into English in the 1570s from the Middle French démocratie which is from the Medieval Latin democratia which is from the Greek demokratia. In Greek demos meant “common people” and kratos meant “rule, strength.”
For theocrats who feel that the ruler must be chosen by their god, the idea of common people selecting their ruler—one of the core concepts of democracy—may be a form of blasphemy.
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