onagrocrazia

Italian

Etymology

Coined by Italian philosopher, historian and politician Benedetto Croce in 1925, as a compound of Ancient Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros, “wild ass, onager”) (through the figurative meaning of “ignoramus, uncultured person” developed by its Italian descendant onagro) +‎ -crazia (“-cracy”, suffix indicating a form of government).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɔ.na.ɡro.kratˈt͡si.a/
• Rhymes: -ia
• Hyphenation: o‧na‧gro‧cra‧zì‧a

Noun

onagrocrazia f (plural onagrocrazie) (politics)

1. (uncountable) onagrocracy (rule by the ignorant and arrogant)
   • 1925, Benedetto Croce, “Politica e pensiero”, in Scritti e discorsi politici, volume 2, Bari: Laterza, published 1963; republished as Angela Carella, editor, 1993, pages 196–197:

     […] l'altro pericolo, quello degli ignoranti che teorizzano, giudicano, sentenziano, che fanno scorrere fiumi di spropositi, che mettono in giro formule senza senso, che credono di possedere nella loro ignoranza stessa una miracolosa sapienza, lo conosciamo perché lo abbiamo sperimentato bene. Si è chiamato, nella sua forma più recente, «fascismo». Io ho pensato denominarlo in greco: onagrocrazia.

     […] the other danger, that of the ignorant who theorize, judge, pass judgement; who let loose streams of absurdities; who give currency to nonsensical slogans; who believe they — in their very ignorance — possess some miraculous knowledge; we know it, because we have had quite an experience with it. In its most recent form, it was called fascism. I had the thought of naming it in Greek: onagrocracy.

2. a government that is an expression of such a rule

References

• “onagrocrazia”, in Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, volume 11 moto–orac, UTET, 1981, page 953