DEMOCRACY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does democracy mean? 

• DEMOCRACY (noun)
  The noun DEMOCRACY has 3 senses:

1. the political orientation of those who favor government by the people or by their elected representatives

2. a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them

3. the doctrine that the numerical majority of an organized group can make decisions binding on the whole group

  Familiarity information: DEMOCRACY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEMOCRACY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The political orientation of those who favor government by the people or by their elected representatives

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("democracy" is a kind of...):

ideology; political orientation; political theory (an orientation that characterizes the thinking of a group or nation)

Derivation:

democratic (characterized by or advocating or based upon the principles of democracy or social equality)

democratize (introduce democratic reforms; of nations)

democratize (become (more) democratic; of nations)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

commonwealth; democracy; republic

Hypernyms ("democracy" is a kind of...):

form of government; political system (the members of a social organization who are in power)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "democracy"):

Weimar Republic (the German republic founded at Weimar in 1919)

parliamentary democracy (a democracy having a parliament)

Derivation:

Democratic (belong to or relating to the Democratic Party)

democratize (introduce democratic reforms; of nations)

democratize (become (more) democratic; of nations)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The doctrine that the numerical majority of an organized group can make decisions binding on the whole group

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

democracy; majority rule

Hypernyms ("democracy" is a kind of...):

doctrine; ism; philosophical system; philosophy; school of thought (a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school)

Derivation:

democratic (representing or appealing to or adapted for the benefit of the people at large)

 Context examples 

Walt believed in country democracy, and never missed an opportunity to practise it.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

As for me, I am an inveterate opponent of socialism just as I am an inveterate opponent of your own mongrel democracy that is nothing else than pseudo- socialism masquerading under a garb of words that will not stand the test of the dictionary.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)