English
kakistocracy
Kakistocracy comes from Ancient Greek κάκιστος ‘worst’, and goes back to κακός ‘bad’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκακόςkakós‘bad’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκάκιστοςkákistos‘worst’superlative of κακός
- Englishearliest quotation 1644kakistocracy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκακόςkakós‘bad’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκάκιστοςkákistos‘worst’superlative of κακός
- Englishearliest quotation 1644kakistocracy
Earliest quotation: 1644, Paul Gosnold, Oxford: “Therefore we need not make any scruple of praying…”
The story
The word was used, perhaps re-coined, by the English author Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866) in his 1829 novella The Misfortunes of Elphin as the opposite of aristocracy (see second quotation).
Every English word from Ancient Greek κακός
Today it means
noun Government under the control of a nation's worst or least-qualified citizens.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek κακός / kakistocracy