meritocracy en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /mɛɹɪˈtɒkɹəsi/ (UK)
- /mɛɹəˈtɑkɹəsi/ (US)
Etymology
Etymology tree English merit Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o-bor. English -o- Proto-Indo-European *kret-der. 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)bor. English -cracy English meritocracy From merit + -o- + -cracy, coined by British sociologist Alan Fox in 1956 in an article in Socialist Commentary from May 1956, used as a derisive term, and popularized by British sociologist Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington in his book The Rise of the Meritocracy (1958).
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) Rule by merit and talent.
In April, six months after Amazon began a wave of layoffs that ultimately wiped out 30,000 jobs, a former employee went on the social media site Blind to rant about the end of meritocracy: “What’s the point of getting a good performance review if you can still be laid off anyway?”
2026 May 19, Noam Scheiber, “The Morale of Tech Workers Is Plunging as Layoffs Mount”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:In Markovits’s telling, the rise of the meritocracy is a story of unintended consequences.
2019 September 5, Sarah Leonard, “The Fall of the Meritocracy”, in The New Republic, archived from the original on 07 Sep 2019:As a small nation without natural resources, Singapore relies on education and meritocracy to develop its economy.
Its faculty has also been a factory of books taking differing positions on the merits and demerits of meritocracy and elite education.
2019 September 9, Jennifer Schuessler, “The Meritocrat Who Wants to Unwind the Meritocracy”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 10 Sep 2019:
- (countable, uncountable) A type of society where wealth, income, and social status are assigned through competition.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| meritocracies | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
meritocratic · meritocrat · antimeritocracy · mirrortocracy
Descendants
Translations (36)
pa ਯੋਗਤਾਤੰਤਰ (rule by merit) · ky меритократия (rule by merit) · ga tuilleamhlathas (rule by merit) · hu meritokrácia (rule by merit) · es meritocracia (rule by merit) · pl merytokracja (rule by merit) · fa شایستهسالاری (rule by merit) · sv meritokrati (rule by merit) · ca meritocràcia (rule by merit) · cs meritokracie (rule by merit) · kk меритократия (rule by merit) · cmn 精英政治 (rule by merit) · ro meritocrație (rule by merit) · nl meritocratie (rule by merit) · pa ਯੋਗਤਾਰਾਜ (rule by merit) · pt meritocracia (rule by merit) · sk meritokracia (rule by merit) · id meritokrasi (rule by merit) · de Leistungsgesellschaft (rule by merit) · de Meritokratie (rule by merit) · fr méritocratie (rule by merit) · ru меритокра́тия (rule by merit) · cmn 任人唯賢 /任人唯贤 (rule by merit) · ka მერიტოკრატია (rule by merit) · ms meritokrasi (rule by merit) · it meritocrazia (rule by merit) · tr meritokrasi (rule by merit) · cmn 精英管理 (rule by merit) · fi meritokratia (rule by merit) · is veldi hæfileikamanna (rule by merit) · cmn 英才管理 (rule by merit) · is gáfumannaveldi (rule by merit) · el αξιοκρατία (rule by merit) · ja 能力主義 (rule by merit) · th คุณธรรมนิยม (rule by merit) · da meritokrati (rule by merit)
wikipedia: Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington · wikipedia: The Rise of the Meritocracy