octarchy

[ ok-tahr-kee ]

noun

, plural oc·tar·chies.

1. a government by eight persons.
2. a group of eight states or kingdoms.

octarchy

/ ˈɒktɑːkɪ /

noun

1. government by eight rulers
2. a confederacy of eight kingdoms, tribes, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of octarchy¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; oct- + -archy

Example Sentences

Finally, to use the quaint phrase of the Chancellor Whitelock, “the Octarchy was brought into one.”

From Project Gutenberg

Milton, in his history of Britain, imagined that the transactions of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, or Octarchy, would be as worthless “to chronicle as the wars of kites or crows flocking and fighting in the air.”

From Project Gutenberg

The casual occurrence of the Engles leaving their name to this land has bestowed on our country a foreign designation; and—for the contingency was nearly occurring—had the kingdom of Northumbria preserved its ascendancy 27 in the octarchy, the seat of dominion had been altered.

From Project Gutenberg

Four kingdoms of the octarchy were possessed by the Angles.

From Project Gutenberg

With the establishment of the Saxon Octarchy this territory became included in the kingdom of Mercia.

From Project Gutenberg