cryptarchy

English

Etymology

From crypt- (“secret”) +‎ -archy (“government”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɪp.tɑː.ki/

Noun

cryptarchy (plural cryptarchies)

1. a secret government or rulership
   • 1798, The Monthly Review, volume 25, page 511:

     Yet these “ubiquitary nullibists,” (to borrow the jargon of Henry More,) this cosmopolitan cryptarchy, is co-extensive with the habitable world; and while with one hand it is preparing for Paris and Marseilles the desertion and desolation of […]