monarchy

Etymology

From Old French monarchie, from Late Latin monarchia, from Ancient Greek μοναρχία (monarkhía), from μόνος (mónos, “only”) + ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “power, authority”). Surface analysis: mon- (“one”, “single”) + -archy (“rule”, “command”).

noun

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.
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.