[to.tal.i.tar.i.an] adj [It totalitario, fr. totalita totality] (1926) 1 a: of or relating to centralized control by an autocratic leader or hierarchy: authoritarian, dictatorial; esp: despotic b: of or relating to a political regime based on subordination of the individual to the state and strict control of all aspects of the life and productive capacity of the nation esp. by coercive measures (as censorship and terrorism)
2. a: advocating or characteristic of totalitarianism b: completely regulated by the state esp. as an aid to national mobilization in an emergency c: exercising autocratic powers: tending toward monopoly
[2]totalitarian n (ca. 1934): an advocate or practitioner of totalitarianism