The expression "... the autocrat of All-Russian, Moscow, Kiev ..." is familiar to many and is strongly associated with the lessons of history. Indeed, it was with these words that the title of Russian emperors began.
The meaning and origin of the word
An autocrat is Greek for “autocrat” (αύτοκράτωρ) and in essence means a ruler of the country endowed with unlimited power. Such a head of state is at the same time a legislative, executive and judicial branch of government and is not limited in actions and decisions by either the parliament or ministers.
The word "autocrat" turned into a royal title during the time of Ivan III of the Dark, namely in 1493, when the last strings that subjugated Muscovite Russia to the power of the Mongol Tatars were torn. The kingdom gradually grew, and the title of the annexed lands was added to the title - Belaya, Novgorod, Kiev and others.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the title of Emperor of Russia occupied half of the modern sheet, and it took 3 minutes to pronounce it. Despite the fact that after the events of 1905, a parliament appeared in the country, the last Tsar Nicholas II Romanov continued to be called the “Emperor of All-Russian Autocrat ...”.
Word-formation analysis
From the point of view of the language sciences, the autocrat is a masculine noun, animate, common noun. It has 2 roots like words such as a sixth grader, linguist, Old Russian and others.
When parsing a word, the following parts are formed:
| root | himself (from the word independent) |
| interfix - connecting vowel | about |
| root | state (from the word power - country) |
| suffix | ec |
Thus, the analysis into its component parts makes it possible to determine that the word "autocrat" is a title with the meaning "independent ruler of the country."
Synonyms
Nowadays, the word is outdated, and it can only be found in history textbooks. However, royal power in the world has been preserved and distributed both in the countries of Europe and in the less civilized states of the East and Africa. Rulers in them are called differently - the king, sultan or king. In the literature (especially in the media) other words are used, which, in essence, are synonyms for the word "autocrat". This is a monarch, ruler, head of state, crowned bearer, co-monk, porphyry bearer, sovereign, bearer of supreme authority, sovereign.
These words are used, as a rule, to indicate a person’s place in the hierarchy. But notations such as "despot" and "tyrant" are often used. Thus, a negative attitude is expressed not to a specific person, but to the very idea of hereditary power.