democracy Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the political orientation of those who favor government by the people or by their elected representatives
  2. noun a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them
    commonwealth; republic.
  3. noun the doctrine that the numerical majority of an organized group can make decisions binding on the whole group
    majority rule.

WordNet

De*moc"ra*cy noun
Etymology
F. démocratie, fr. Gr. dhmokrati`a; dh^mos the people + kratei^n to be strong, to rule, kra`tos strength.
Wordforms
plural Democracies
Definitions
  1. Government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is retained and directly exercised by the people.
  2. Government by popular representation; a form of government in which the supreme power is retained by the people, but is indirectly exercised through a system of representation and delegated authority periodically renewed; a constitutional representative government; a republic.
  3. Collectively, the people, regarded as the source of government. Milton.
  4. The principles and policy of the Democratic party, so called. U.S.

Webster 1913