oligarch C2 Topic:Mathematics & Measurement US /ˈɑləɡɑɹk/ UK /ˈɒlɪˌɡɑːk/ See IPA manual Freq #72423 Meanings 1 noun A very wealthy business owner who wields political power. Millions of people were starving, while the oligarchs and their supporters were surfeiting on the surplus. 2 noun A protoplanet formed during oligarchic accretion. In the inner Solar System, only the asteroid Ceres was able to grow fast enough to become a dwarf planet, but in the outer Solar System huge numbers of icy bodies formed, ranging from pebbles to the oligarchs now recognized as dwarf planets. 3 noun one of the rulers in an oligarchy 4 noun A member of an oligarchy; someone who is part of a small group that runs a country. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a very wealthy business... plutocrattycoonocrat Word family Derived forms boligarchbollygarchbroligarchcontroligarchdutertegarchminigarchoiligarcholigarchismoligarchizepetrogarchsilovarch Related forms oligarchaloligarchicoligarchicaloligarchy Etymology From French oligarque, olygarche, from Late Latin oligarcha, from Ancient Greek ὀλιγάρχης (oligárkhēs). By surface analysis, olig- (“few”) + -arch (“ruler, leader”). Topics Mathematics & Measurement External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # oligarch **Type:** Word **Level:** C2 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈɑləɡɑɹk/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈɒlɪˌɡɑːk/ **Frequency rank:** 72423 ## Meanings 1. A very wealthy business owner who wields political power. 2. A protoplanet formed during oligarchic accretion. 3. one of the rulers in an oligarchy 4. A member of an oligarchy; someone who is part of a small group that runs a country. ## Examples - Millions of people were starving, while the oligarchs and their supporters were surfeiting on the surplus. - In the inner Solar System, only the asteroid Ceres was able to grow fast enough to become a dwarf planet, but in the outer Solar System huge numbers of icy bodies formed, ranging from pebbles to the oligarchs now recognized as dwarf planets. ## Derived Forms - boligarch - bollygarch - broligarch - controligarch - dutertegarch - minigarch - oiligarch - oligarchism - oligarchize - petrogarch - silovarch ## Related Forms - oligarchal - oligarchic - oligarchical - oligarchy ## Etymology From French oligarque, olygarche, from Late Latin oligarcha, from Ancient Greek ὀλιγάρχης (oligárkhēs). By surface analysis, olig- (“few”) + -arch (“ruler, leader”). ## Topics - Mathematics & Measurement markdown