timocracy
\tahy-MOK-ruh-see\
noun
1. a form of government in which love of honor is the dominant motive of the rulers.
2. a form of government in which a certain amount of property is requisite as a qualification for office.
Quotes
The individual who answers to timocracy has some noticeable qualities. He is described as ill-educated, but, like the Spartan, a lover of literature…
-- Plato, The Republic, translated by Benjamin Jowett, 1856
Origin
Timocracy entered English in the late 1500s, and finds its roots in the Greek tīmo- meaning "honor, worth," and -kratia meaning "rule, government." In Greek, Plato and Aristotle used the "love and honor" and "property" senses of this term, respectively.
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