Meanings
plural etatisms · alternative étatisme · alternative etatisme
- uncountableusuallySynonym of statism, sometimes (derogatory) with specific distinctions derived from Mises's political theories.
Etatism is inherently oppressive and expansionist, breeding monism, intolerance, and hostility.
1 more example
The right and true state, under etatism, is the state in which I or my friends, speaking my language and sharing my opinions, are supreme. All other states are spurious. One cannot deny that they too exist in this imperfect world. But they are enemies of my state, of the only righteous state, even if this state does not yet exist outside of my dreams and wishes.
1944, Ludwig von Mises, Omnipotent Government
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of statism, sometimes (derogatory) with specific distinctions derived from Mises's political theories.
Origin
- Frenchétatisme
- Englishetatism
From état (“state”) + -ism, equivalent to a borrowing of French étatisme but coined by Ludwig von Mises's 1944 Omnipotent Government to emphasize statism's longer history in France and other Continental governments than in the Anglosphere. Doublet of statism.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
etatism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/etatism
“etatism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/etatism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “etatism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/etatism.
Source: etatism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.