HEGEMONY

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Dr. Goodword
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HEGEMONY

Postby Dr. Goodword » Thu Jan 25, 2007 12:00 am

• hegemony •

Pronunciation: hê-je-mê-nee • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: Control over others, especially control of one country or region over another, domination of another.

Notes: A nation that dominates another is a hegemon [he-jê-mên] that hegemonizes [hê-je-mê-naiz-iz] its sphere of influence. The adjective is hegemonic and the plural is hegemonies. Don't forget to change Y to I and add ES to form the plural

In Play: Today's Good Word is heard mostly in connection with international diplomacy and politics: "Everyone was happy to see the end of Soviet hegemony in Eastern and Central Europe." However, it works in economics equally well, where corporate hegemony, the disproportionate influence of corporations on our lives, has become a popular phrase: "Professor Wazziz Nem blames corporate hegemony for creating America's addiction to oil by promoting automobile travel over rail and river travel."

Word History: Today's Good Word is the English makeover of the Greek word hegemonia "leadership" from the noun hegemon "leader", a noun from the verb hegeisthai "to lead". The Greek root here is heg-; it comes from PIE sag- "to seek" which in fact went on to also become English seek and the sack in ransack. This latter word was taken from Old Norse rannsaka, made up of rann "house" + saka "to search". The same root became sagax (sagac-s) "of keen perception" in Latin, then wended its way down to French as sage "wise" and to Spanish as sagaz "wise". English borrowed both sage and sagacious from Old French.
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gailr
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Postby gailr » Thu Jan 25, 2007 2:17 am

Meaning: Control over others, especially control of one country or region over another, domination of another.
Too often justified by insistence that the control-ees are persecuting the control-ers.

Perry
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Postby Perry » Thu Jan 25, 2007 10:11 am

Hegemons are just out to hege their bets.
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
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Bailey
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Postby Bailey » Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:06 am

Some think their hegemony is to be the original.

mark gets-no-respect Bailey
Too often justified by insistence that the control-ees are persecuting the control-ers.
what does this mean? Is it a political statement? I don't get it.

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skinem
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Postby skinem » Thu Jan 25, 2007 2:02 pm

I'm of the age where I thought the first part of this word was "Soviet"...

Palewriter
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Postby Palewriter » Thu Jan 25, 2007 3:44 pm

The Italian socialist Gramsci developed an interesting theory of hegemony, partly to explain the failure of the pre-20th Century proletariat to foment a successful overthrow of the bourgeois class.

-- PW
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