Etymology

bureaucrat

bu·reau·crat
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Today it means: An official who is part of a bureaucracy. Full definition →

French bureaucrate ← Ancient Greek κρᾰ́τος (krắtos) ← Proto-Indo-European *kret-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*péh₂wr̥
  2. Proto-Hellenic*pāwər
  3. Ancient Greekπῦρ (pûr)
  4. Ancient Greekπῠρρός (pŭrrhós)
  5. Latinburrus
  6. Latinburra
  7. Old French*bure
  8. Old Frenchburel
  9. Frenchbureau
  10. Proto-Indo-European*kret-
  11. Ancient Greekκρᾰ́τος (krắtos)
  12. Frenchbureaucratie
  13. Frenchbureaucrate
  14. English todaybureaucrat

From French bureaucrate, equivalent to bureau + -crat.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.