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  1. thalassocracy love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Naval or commercial supremacy on the seas.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Same as thalassocraty.

Wiktionary

  1. n. a state whose power derives from its naval or commercial supremacy on the seas
  2. n. maritime supremacy

Etymologies

  1. Ancient Greek θαλασσοκρατέω (thalassakrateō, "to be master of the sea"), from θάλασσα (thalassa, "sea") + κράτος (kratos, "rule") (Wiktionary)
  2. Greek thalassokratiā : thalassa, sea + -kratiā, -cracy. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “It is often said, for example, that Evans was interpreting Minoan civilization and the basis of its power in the early second millennium BC according to the model of the British Empire: the Minoan control of the sea ( "thalassocracy") was a reflection of the power of the British navy.”

    Knossos: Fakes, Facts, and Mystery

  • “According to Thucydides, he also established the first thalassocracy, or maritime empire.”

    First Minoan Shipwreck

  • “To what extent these changing trade patterns reflect political events is unknown, but legend has Crete's King Minos founding a sea empire (thalassocracy).”

    b. The Minoan Civilization

  • “However, your final point does have the quality of a point being stretched quite some distance It is clear however that Mr Barelegs did indeed view Ireland as being part of his sphere of influence (if he can be considered a true embodiement of a Viking thalassocracy, as I'm not sure any other leader could command such authority over the differing kingdoms).”

    Politics.ie - 3,4,5,6,7,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,27,28,29,30,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,41,42,48,49,50,52

  • “One of the issues that I was interested in when I was doing my degree was the extent to which the Viking thalassocracy ever seriously viewed Ireland as a candidate for political / military conquest in the way, for example, that England and Northern France were.”

    Politics.ie - 3,4,5,6,7,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,27,28,29,30,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,41,42,48,49,50,52

  • “In a nutshell, for the past two centuries, the international system of diplomacy has centered around the efforts by the Anglosphere to maintain a thalassocracy, a control of the world's sea lanes, so as to facilitate free markets and the rising prosperity fostered by capitalism.”

    Latest Articles

  • “And Obama appears bound and determined to do everything he can to reduce the ability of the American thalassocracy to maintain a stable economic, and therefore political, order in the world.”

    Latest Articles

  • “As one archaeologist has recently ” and crassly ” put it, Evans's Minoans were "travelling and trading all over the Mediterranean, thanks to their British (sorry, Minoan) ˜thalassocracy. '" [”

    Knossos: Fakes, Facts, and Mystery

  • “Polykrates became "the first of all cities, Hellenic or barbaric," a center of Ionian manners, luxury, art, science and culture, the seat of the first great thalassocracy or sea-power after that of Cretan Minos, a distributing point for commerce and colonies. [”

    Influences of Geographic Environment On the Basis of Ratzel's System of Anthropo-Geography

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Words with the same meaning

  1. thalattocracy

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Comments

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  • yarb I think you mean "in light of", not "in lieu of". I noticed the same solecism in a letter to our local paper recently. Dec 30, 2010

  • Haroldrodgers could this word be loosely used, in lieu of its' overwhelming naval superiority on the worlds seas, in reference to the USA. Dec 29, 2010

  • rolig It just occurred to me that this word is different from other -cracy words. Whereas words like democracy, aristocracy, plutocracy, gerontocracy, etc. the -cracy element means "rule by" the group signified in the first element (e.g. the people, the nobility, the rich, the old), in thalassocracy the meaning seems to be "rule over the sea" or perhaps "rule based on the sea." Aug 25, 2008

  • chained_bear Ahh, the Hanseatic League! I didn't know there was a word for this. Thanks. Aug 19, 2008

  • rolig I see. Thanks, kind-heartedness. Aug 19, 2008

  • milosrdenstvi Venice about that time is a classic example of a thalassocracy. Spain or England is less good, as they had extensive land-based colonies. A thalassocracy is where the power is almost 100% in ships and islands and trade, i.e. early Renaissance Venice, classical Athens, or (the ultimate example) the mediaeval-era Hanseatic League of the North and Baltic Seas. Aug 19, 2008

  • rolig I wonder if this word could be applied to sea powers in general, e.g. Venice in the 13th and 14th centuries (with regard to the Eastern Mediterranean), Spain in the 16th, or Britain in 19th? Aug 19, 2008

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‘thalassocracy’ has been looked up 1820 times, added to 22 lists, commented on 7 times, and has a Scrabble score of 23.