timocracy
Americannoun
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a form of government in which love of honor is the dominant motive of the rulers.
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a form of government in which a certain amount of property is requisite as a qualification for office.
noun
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a political unit or system in which possession of property serves as the first requirement for participation in government
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a political unit or system in which love of honour is deemed the guiding principle of government
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of timocracy
First recorded in 1580–90; earlier timocratie, from French or directly from Greek tīmokratía, equivalent to tīmo- (combining form of tīmḗ “honor, worth”) + -kratia combining form meaning “government”; see origin at -cracy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Proud is Harvard of sons who have become famed financiers and economists, stalwart foundation piles of the U. S. timocracy and foreign financial affairs.
From Time Magazine Archive
The PISISTRATIDS.—The government of Athens, framed by Solon, was in effect a "timocracy," or rule of the rich.
From Outline of Universal History by Fisher, George Park
Rather than admit Cleomenes as chief of the league, where he might have upset the existing timocracy, Aratus opposed all attempts at mediation.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 4 "Aram, Eugene" to "Arcueil" by Various
Thus in Ambracia, about the same time as at Athens, the timocracy gradually passed into a democracy,24 and at Argos also the democracy rose at the same period.
From The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 2 of 2 by Müller, Karl Otfried
The accumulation of gold in the treasury of private individuals is ruin the of timocracy; they invent illegal modes of expenditure; for what do they or their wives care about the law?
From The Republic by Jowett, Benjamin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
