monarchy
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈmɒnəki/
  • (GA) IPA: /ˈmɑnɚki/
Noun

monarchy

  1. A government in which sovereignty is embodied within a single, today usually hereditary head of state (whether as a figurehead or as a powerful ruler).
    An absolute monarchy is a monarchy where the monarch is legally the ultimate authority in all temporal matters.
    A constitutional monarchy is a monarchy in which the monarch's power is legally constrained, ranging from where minor concessions have been made to appease certain factions to where the monarch is a figurehead with all real power in the hands of a legislative body.
  2. The territory ruled over by a monarch; a kingdom.
    • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene iv]:
      What scourge for perjury / Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence?
  3. A form of government where sovereignty is embodied by a single ruler in a state and his high aristocracy representing their separate divided lands within the state and their low aristocracy representing their separate divided fiefs.
  4. States based on a system of governance headed by a king or a queen.
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