monarchy

Meaning

Noun

• A government in which sovereignty is embodied within a single, today usually hereditary head of state (whether as a figurehead or as a powerful ruler).
• The territory ruled over by a monarch; a kingdom.
• A form of government where sovereignty is embodied by a single ruler in a state and his high aristocracy representing their separate divided lands within the state and their low aristocracy representing their separate divided fiefs.
• States based on a system of governance headed by a king or a queen.

Related

Similar words

• kingdom

Origin

• From Old French monarchie, from Late Latin monarchia, from Ancient Greek μοναρχία, from μόνος + ἀρχή. Surface analysis: mon- + -archy.