Etymology

l'état, c'est moi

Today it means: Used to signify one's exercise of power in a dictatiorial, repressive and/or charismatic manner. Full definition →

French l'état, c'est moi
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The story

  1. French · borrowed froml'état, c'est moi“I am the state”
  2. English todayl'état, c'est moi

Borrowed from French l'état, c'est moi (“I am the state”), which apocryphally attributed to Louis XIV per an anecdote representing the tyranny of France before the French Revolution.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.