Monarchy definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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Definitions (10)

American Heritage Dictionary (2)

noun Government by a monarch.
noun A state ruled or headed by a monarch.

Century Dictionary (6)

Supreme power wielded by a single person; absolute personal authority. They imagined that he [Jesus] … should subdue the rest of the world, and make Jerusalem the seat of an universal monarchy. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, vii. 16. But let us not deceive our selves, the pretensions are as high and as great at Rome to this Monarchy as ever they were. Stillingfleet, Sermons, II. ii.
The principle of government by a monarch; the monarchical system. The first, the most ancient, most general, and most approved, was the government of one ruling by just laws, called monarchy. Raleigh, Hist. World, I. ix. 2. I hear there are people among you who think the experience of our governments has already proved that republican governments will not answer. Send those gentry here, to count the blessings of monarchy. Jefferson, Correspondence, II. 221.
A government in which the supreme power is either actually or nominally lodged in the hands of a monarch or sole ruler, who holds his position for life, generally with hereditary succession. There have been elective, monarchies, in which the successor to a deceased sovereign was chosen without obligatory regard to the hereditary principle; but this principle has finally prevailed, to the exclusion of choice, in all existing civilized monarchies. The former kingdom of Poland was a purely elective monarchy. The German-Roman empire was originally, and always nominally, elective; but for many centuries the chosen successor was almost invariably the heir of the former emperor. An absolute or despotic monarchy is one in which the will of the monarch or sovereign is supreme over all other authority or powers of government; a limited or constitutional monarchy, one in which the sovereign is limited to the exercise of particular powers or functions by the laws or constitution of the realm. More or less limited monarchies have nearly always existed. About the fifteenth century a noteworthy increase of the power of the sovereign took place (as in England under Edward IV., in France under Louis XL., in Spain under Ferdinand the Catholic and Charles V.). Till the close of the eighteenth century the prevalent theory and practice on the continent constituted nearly unrestricted absolutism; this has now almost disappeared from Europe, while still maintaining a foothold in Asia. But whether absolute or limited, the monarch is theoretically regarded as the source of all power, and all acts of government are done in his name. The obvious definition of a monarchy seems to be that of a state in which a single person, by whatsoever name he may be distinguished, is intrusted with the execution of the laws, the management of the revenue, and the command of the army. But, unless public liberty is protected by intrepid and vigilant guardians, the authority of so formidable a magistrate will soon degenerate into despotism. Gibbon. It has often indeed been noticed that a Feudal Monarchy was an exact counterpart of a Feudal Manor, but the reason of the correspondence is only now beginning to dawn upon us. Maine, Early Hist of Institutions, p. 77.

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And of course, Giraut, in your home culture, the monarchy is a duty like jury service, chosen like an honorary degree to do the things other cultures expect of an annual beauty queen The weather was glorious ("Two-two day outside to play"). — AnalogSFF,March2006
As a stab in the dark the combined civil list costs of the monarchy is around £10m, which I know is a fair amount in these cash straped times. — Army Rumour Service
Supporters of the controversial lese majeste law insist the monarchy is above politics and must be protected from slander. — Latest News Breaking News and Current News from the UK and World Telegraph
Critics argue that that the monarchy is at the core of a political crisis rocking Thailand and that the law prevents not just criticism but any public discussion at all. — Latest News Breaking News and Current News from the UK and World Telegraph
The fact that they took the trouble to do so demonstrates that the monarchy was a substantive political issue. — ComingAnarchy.com

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monarchy

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