hegemony
Pluralhegemonies
- 1Dominance or controlling influence over others, especially a nation's power over other nations or a political group's over a society.
After the war, the country sought economic hegemony over the entire region.
Historians compare the rival hegemonies of Athens and Sparta in ancient Greece.
UsageUsually hegemony over a region, country or group.
Similardominance, domination, supremacy, ascendancy, dominion
Note
Greek hēgemonía meant leadership or chief command, from a verb meaning "to lead", so at root the word is about leading rather than conquering. Its early 19th-century use was shaped by German Hegemonie, and fittingly a translated piece on Germany in The Pamphleteer weighs a German republic and confederacy against "a hegemony to which nobody is willing to submit."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Greek hēgemonía meant leadership or chief command. en.wiktionary.org
- The word ultimately derives from a verb meaning 'to lead'; the contrast with conquering is an etymological interpretation. en.wiktionary.org
- German Hegemonie influenced early nineteenth-century English usage. en.wiktionary.org
- 2Dominance of one social group over another in which the ruling group wins some degree of consent from those it rules, rather than relying on force alone.
Through schools, newspapers, and churches, the ruling class maintained a cultural hegemony that made its values seem like common sense.
The two parties competed for hegemony, each trying to persuade voters that its view of the nation was the natural one.
UsageCommon phrase: cultural hegemony.
Similardominance, ascendancy
Practice
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Origin
Ancient Greek ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai, "to lead") gave ἡγεμών (hēgemṓn, "leader, guide, commander"), and from that came ἡγεμονία (hēgemonía), meaning "supremacy, leadership, chief command." German Hegemonie influenced how the word was used in the early 19th century.