Skip to content

meritocracy

noun

  1. type of organisation
L323839 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /mɛɹɪˈtɒkɹəsi/ / /mɛɹəˈtɑkɹəsi/

noun

Etymology: From merit + -o- + -cracy, coined by British sociologist Alan Fox in 1956 in an article in Socialist Commentary from May 1956, used as a derisive term, and popularized by British sociologist Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington in his 1958 book The Rise of the Meritocracy.

  1. Rule by merit and talent.

    As a small nation without natural resources, Singapore relies on education and meritocracy to develop its economy.

    In Markovits’s telling, the rise of the meritocracy is a story of unintended consequences.

  2. A type of society where wealth, income, and social status are assigned through competition.