timocracy

American  

[tahy-mok-ruh-see] / taɪˈmɒk rə si /

noun

plural

timocracies

1. a form of government in which love of honor is the dominant motive of the rulers.

2. a form of government in which a certain amount of property is requisite as a qualification for office.

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timocracy British  

/ ˌtaɪməˈkrætɪk, taɪˈmɒkrəsɪ /

noun

1. a political unit or system in which possession of property serves as the first requirement for participation in government

2. a political unit or system in which love of honour is deemed the guiding principle of government

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Other Word Forms

• timocratic
  adjective
• timocratical
  adjective

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

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 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

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

Instead of invigorating the upper classes, by substituting an industrious timocracy for an idle aristocracy, it had a very different effect.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 368, June 1846 by Various

The accumulation of gold in the treasury of private individuals is the ruin 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