Hypertext Webster Gateway: "absolutism"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Absolutism \Ab"so*lu`tism\, n.
1. The state of being absolute; the system or doctrine of the
absolute; the principles or practice of absolute or
arbitrary government; despotism.
The element of absolutism and prelacy was
controlling. --Palfrey.
2. (Theol.) Doctrine of absolute decrees. --Ash.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
absolutism
n 1: dominance through threat of punishment and violence [syn: {tyranny},
{despotism}]
2: a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute
dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or
opposition etc.) [syn: {dictatorship}, {authoritarianism},
{Caesarism}, {despotism}, {monocracy}, {one-man rule}, {shogunate},
{Stalinism}, {totalitarianism}, {tyranny}]
3: the principle of complete and unrestricted power in
government [syn: {totalitarianism}, {totalism}]
4: the doctrine of an absolute being
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