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Webster 1913 Edition


Anarchy

An′arch-y

,
Noun.
[Gr. [GREEK]: cf. F.
anarchie
. See
Anarch
.]
1.
Absence of government; the state of society where there is no law or supreme power; a state of lawlessness; political confusion.
Spread
anarchy
and terror all around.
Cowper.
2.
Hence, confusion or disorder, in general.
There being then . . . an
anarchy
, as I may term it, in authors and their re[GREEK]koning of years.
Fuller.

Webster 1828 Edition


Anarchy

AN'ARCHY

,
Noun.
[Gr. rule.]
Want of government; a state of society, when there is no law or supreme power, or when the laws are not efficient, and individuals do what they please with impunity; political confusion.

Definition 2024


anarchy

anarchy

English

Noun

anarchy (countable and uncountable, plural anarchies)

  1. (uncountable) The state of a society being without authorities or an authoritative governing body.
  2. (uncountable) Anarchism; the political theory that a community is best organized by the voluntary cooperation of individuals, rather than by a government, which is regarded as being coercive by nature.
  3. (countable) A chaotic and confusing absence of any form of political authority or government.
  4. Confusion in general; disorder.

Usage notes

  • (confusion or misunderstanding in general): Anarchists feel it is inappropriate to use anarchy to mean “a state of chaos or confusion”. However, this has historically been a common use of the word.
  • For usage examples of this term, see Citations:anarchy.

Synonyms

  • see Wikisaurus:disorder

Antonyms

  • (all senses): nonanarchy (rare)
  • (disorder): order

Translations

Derived terms