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bureaucracy

noun
/bjʊəˈɹɒk.ɹə.si/UK/bjʊˈɹɑ.kɹə.si/US/bjʊˈɹɒk.ɹə.si/CA/bjʊəˈɹɔk.ɹə si/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥ Proto-Hellenic *pāwər Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr) Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Hellenic *-rós Ancient Greek -ρός (-rós) Ancient Greek πῠρρός (pŭrrhós)bor. Latin burrus Latin burra Old French *bure Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -ulus Latin -ellus Old French -el Old French burel French bureau Proto-Indo-European *kret- Ancient Greek κρᾰ́τος (krắtos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek -κρᾰτῐ́ᾱ (-krătĭ́ā)lbor. French -cratie French bureaucratie English bureaucracy From bureau + -cracy, from French bureaucratie, coined by Jean Claude Marie Vincent de Gournay from bureau (“office”) + -cratie (“rule of”).

  1. derived from burra
  2. derived from burel
  3. formed as bureaucracy — “bureau + -cracy”

Definitions

  1. Government by bureaus or their administrators or officers.

    • However, when Britain left the European Union, ferries started to ply a direct sea link from Ireland, to save hauliers from custom's bureaucracy of driving via Britain.

  2. A system of administration based upon organisation into bureaus, division of labour, a…

    A system of administration based upon organisation into bureaus, division of labour, a hierarchy of authority, etc., designed to dispose of a large body of work in a routine manner.

    • At that time the administration replaced the system of patronage in the civil service with a bureaucracy.
    • Each of the most provocative selections is facing criticism that they lack the expertise and experience to run the vast, specialized bureaucracies that would be under their control.

  3. The body of officers and administrators, especially of a government.

    • The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy. (apocryphal quip)
  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. Excessive red tape and routine in any administration, body or behaviour.

      • The head of the civil service promised to clamp down on bureaucracy.

The neighborhood

Derived

antibureaucracy, bureaucrat, bureaucratese, bureaucratic, bureaucratically, bureaucratize, bureaucrazy, bureaupathology, Eurocracy, technobureaucracy

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bureaucracy. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA