/an"euhr kee/ , n.
1. a state of society without government or law.
2. political and social disorder due to the absence of governmental control: The death of the king was followed by a year of anarchy.
3. a theory that regards the absence of all direct or coercive government as a political ideal and that proposes the cooperative and voluntary association of individuals and groups as the principal mode of organized society.
4. confusion; chaos; disorder: Intellectual and moral anarchy followed his loss of faith.
[ 1530-40; ( anarchie or ML anarchia ) anarchía lawlessness, lit., lack of a leader, equiv. to ánarch ( os ) leaderless ( an- AN- 1 + arch ( ós ) leader + -os adj. suffix) + -ia -Y 3 ]