mon·ar·chy

(mŏn′ər-kē, -är′-)

n. pl. mon·ar·chies

1. Government by a monarch.

2. A state ruled or headed by a monarch.

[Middle English monarchie, from Old French, from Latin monarchia, from Greek monarkhiā, from monarkhos, monarch; see monarch.]

mo·nar′chi·al (mə-när′kē-əl) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

monarchy

(ˈmɒnəkɪ)

n, pl -chies

1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a form of government in which supreme authority is vested in a single and usually hereditary figure, such as a king, and whose powers can vary from those of an absolute despot to those of a figurehead

2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a country reigned over by a king, prince, or other monarch

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mon•ar•chy

(ˈmɒn ər ki)

n., pl. -chies.

1. a government or state in which the supreme power is actually or nominally lodged in a monarch.

2. supreme power or sovereignty held by a single person.

3. the fact or state of being a monarchy.

[1300–50; Middle English < Late Latin < Greek]

monarchy

1. a governmental system in which supreme power is actually or nominally held by a monarch.
2. supreme power and authority held by one person; autocracy. — monarchie, monarchical, adj.

monarchy

A form of government headed by a hereditary ruler, such as a king or queen, or a country with this form of government.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

monarchy - an autocracy governed by a monarch who usually inherits the authority

autocracy, autarchy - a political system governed by a single individual

parliamentary monarchy - a monarchy having a parliament

kingdom - a monarchy with a king or queen as head of state

empire - a monarchy with an emperor as head of state

monarchy

noun

1. sovereignty, despotism, autocracy, kingship, absolutism, royalism, monocracy a debate on the future of the monarchy

2. kingdom, empire, realm, principality The country was a monarchy until 1973.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

الحُكومه المَلَكيهمَلْكِيةٌ

monarchie

monarki

monarkia

monarhija

monarchia

konungsríki; einvaldsríki; konungsveldi

monarchia

君主制

군주제

monarchija

monarchia

monarhija

monarki

การปกครองโดยมีพระมหากษัตริย์เป็นประมุข

monarşimutlakiyetkraliyet

chế độ quân chủ

君主体制君主国

monarchy

[ˈmɒnəkɪ] N → monarquía f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

monarchy

[ˈmɒnə^rki] n

(= system) → monarchie f
when France was a monarchy → lorsque la France était une monarchie

the monarchy (= royal family) → la monarchie

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

monarchy

n → Monarchie f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

monarchy

[ˈmɒnəkɪ] n → monarchia

monarch

(ˈmonək) noun

a king, queen, emperor, or empress.

ˈmonarchy – plural ˈmonarchies – noun

(a country etc that has) government by a monarch.

monarchy

→ مَلْكِيةٌ monarchie monarki Monarchie μοναρχία monarquía monarkia monarchie monarhija monarchia 君主制 군주제 monarchie monarki monarchia monarquia монархия monarki การปกครองโดยมีพระมหากษัตริย์เป็นประมุข kraliyet chế độ quân chủ 君主国

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"My children," said the Oldest and Wisest Ape in All the World, when he had heard the Deputation, "you did right in ridding yourselves of tyranny, but your tribe is not sufficiently advanced to dispense with the forms of monarchy. Entice the tyrant back with fair promises, kill him and enthrone.

View in context

For if there ever was a sovereign who bid fair to realize the project of universal monarchy, it was the Emperor Charles V., of whose intrigues Wolsey was at once the instrument and the dupe.

View in context

Domestic government is a monarchy, for that is what prevails in every house; but a political state is the government of free men and equals.

View in context

In Germany they fight with the bourgeoisie whenever it acts in a revolutionary way, against the absolute monarchy, the feudal squirearchy, and the petty bourgeoisie.

View in context

To be loyal to rags, to shout for rags, to worship rags, to die for rags -- that is a loyalty of unreason, it is pure animal; it belongs to monarchy, was invented by monarchy; let monarchy keep it.

View in context

One of them disorganized by revolutionary changes, the other rusted in the neglect of a decayed monarchy, the two fleets opposed to us entered the contest with odds against them from the first.

View in context

A monarchy, where there is no nobility at all, is ever a pure and absolute tyranny; as that of the Turks.

View in context

IN today's era of political transparency and of nations facing up to the mistakes that they made in the past, there is no excuse for the English monarchy to continue to use and to hog the title Prince of Wales.

Prince William should say no

In Britain and Ireland, there is a tradition of republican discourse -- naturally strong in the Scottish National Party -- which identifies Britain's monarchy as a symbol of an empire-building state which was always loosely cobbled together out of four nations, which required huge amounts of imperial mythology to sustain it, and which has now signally failed to reform itself for a more democratic age; and in the case of UK, there is plenty of evidence to support that view, not so much in the conduct of the monarchy itself -- which often seems to understand more about modern devolved Britain than the Westminster government does -- as in the bizarrely reverential attitude to it of so many British establishment figures and institutions.

Joyce McMillan: What royal baby worship tells us about Britain

Former King Gyanendra's recent pilgrimage to the two eastern hill districts Ilam and Panchthar and earlier pilgrimage to the mid-Tarai districts have given clear message that still the institution of monarchy is the hope among the people.

The Message