Meanings
plural theocracies
- countableuncountableGovernment under the control of a state religion.
Near-synonym: clericocracy
3 more examples
Tibet was a Buddhist theocracy ruled by the Dalai Lama prior to Chinese annexation.
The Vatican City State is a sovereign city-state and a Christian theocracy ruled by the Pope.
Lynch certainly seems to think to. “We feel liberated from the prism of the past,” he says. “Ireland was a theocracy.”
2023 December 2, Frederick Studemann, quoting Paul Lynch, “Civilisation is so easily lost”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 11Synonyms: clericocracy
Synonyms & antonyms
nounGovernment under the control of a state religion.
Origin
- Ancient Greekθεοκρατία“rule of (a) God”
- Englishtheocracy
From theo- + -cracy, originally from Ancient Greek θεοκρατία (theokratía, “rule of (a) God”), a term coined in the 1st century by Josephus (Against Apion 2.17) in reference to the ancient Israelite polity under the Mosaic covenant. Attested in English from the 1620s, first by John Donne in A Sermon upon the fifth of November 1622. being the Anniversary celebration of our Deliverance from the Powder Treason: "The Jews were onely under a Theocratie, an immediate government of God..."
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans teokrasie
- teokrasiegovernment under the control of a Church
Ancient Greek θεοκρατία
- θεοκρατία (theokratía)government under the control of a Church
Arabic ثِيُقْرَاطِيَّة
- ثِيُقْرَاطِيَّة (ṯiyuqrāṭiyya)government under the control of a Church
Basque teokrazia
- teokraziagovernment under the control of a Church
Bulgarian теокра́ция
- теокра́ция (teokrácija)government under the control of a Church
Catalan teocràcia, teocràcia
- teocràciagovernment under the control of a Church
- teocràciarule by God or gods
Chinese Mandarin 神權政治 /神权政治, 政教合一
- 神權政治 /神权政治 (shénquán zhèngzhì)government under the control of a Church
- 政教合一 (zhèngjiào héyī)government under the control of a Church
Czech teokracie
- teokraciegovernment under the control of a Church
Danish teokrati
- teokratigovernment under the control of a Church
Dutch theocratie
- theocratiegovernment under the control of a Church
Esperanto teokratio
- teokratiogovernment under the control of a Church
Estonian teokraatia
- teokraatiagovernment under the control of a Church
Finnish teokratia, teokratia
- teokratiagovernment under the control of a Church
- teokratiarule by God or gods
French théocratie, théocratie
- théocratiegovernment under the control of a Church
- théocratierule by God or gods
German Theokratie, Gottesstaat
- Theokratiegovernment under the control of a Church
- Gottesstaatgovernment under the control of a Church
- Kirchenstaatgovernment under the control of a Church
Greek θεοκρατία
- θεοκρατία (theokratía)government under the control of a Church
Hebrew תאוקרטיה
- תאוקרטיה (teokrátya)government under the control of a Church
Hindi धर्मतंत्र
- धर्मतंत्र (dharmatantra)government under the control of a Church
Hungarian papi uralom, teokrácia
- papi uralomgovernment under the control of a Church
- teokráciagovernment under the control of a Church
Icelandic klerkaveldi, guðveldi
- klerkaveldigovernment under the control of a Church
- guðveldirule by God or gods
Indonesian teokrasi
- teokrasigovernment under the control of a Church
Italian teocrazia
- teocraziagovernment under the control of a Church
Japanese 神権政治
- 神権政治 (shinken seiji)government under the control of a Church
Korean 신권 정치, 제정 일치
- 신권 정치 (sin'gwon jeongchi)government under the control of a Church
- 제정 일치 (jejeong ilchi)government under the control of a Church
Latvian teokrātija
- teokrātijagovernment under the control of a Church
Lithuanian teokratija
- teokratijagovernment under the control of a Church
Malay teokrasi
- teokrasigovernment under the control of a Church
Norwegian Bokmål teokrati
- teokratigovernment under the control of a Church
Persian تئوکراسی
- تئوکراسی (te'okrâsi)government under the control of a Church
Polish teokracja
- teokracjagovernment under the control of a Church
Portuguese teocracia
- teocraciagovernment under the control of a Church
Romanian teocrație
- teocrațiegovernment under the control of a Church
Russian теокра́тия, церко́вное госуда́рство
- теокра́тия (teokrátija)government under the control of a Church
- церко́вное госуда́рство (cerkóvnoje gosudárstvo)government under the control of a Church
Slovak teokracia
- teokraciagovernment under the control of a Church
Spanish teocracia, teocracia
- teocraciagovernment under the control of a Church
- teocraciarule by God or gods
Swedish teokrati
- teokratigovernment under the control of a Church
Tagalog teokrasya
- teokrasyagovernment under the control of a Church
Thai เทวาธิปไตย, เทวาธิปไตย
- เทวาธิปไตย (tee-waa-tí-bpà-dtai)government under the control of a Church
- เทวาธิปไตย (tee-waa-tí-bpà-dtai)rule by God or gods
Turkish teokrasi
- teokrasigovernment under the control of a Church
Ukrainian теокра́тія
- теокра́тія (teokrátija)government under the control of a Church
Vietnamese thần quyền
- thần quyềngovernment under the control of a Church
Yiddish טעאָקראַציע
- טעאָקראַציע (teokratsye)government under the control of a Church
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
theocracy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/theocracy
“theocracy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/theocracy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “theocracy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/theocracy.
Source: theocracy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.