Bu-reau'cra-cy, n.

(bu-rō'kra-sy), n. [Fr. bureaucratie, from bureau and Gr. κρατεῖν, to be strong, to govern; κράτος, strength.] A system in which the business of government is carried on in departments, each under the control of a chief, in contradistinction from a system in which the officers of government have a coordinate authority. [Recent.]