anarchy Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a state of lawlessness and disorder (usually resulting from a failure of government)
    lawlessness.

WordNet

An"arch*y noun
Etymology
Gr. : cf. F. anarchie. See Anarch.
Definitions
  1. Absence of government; the state of society where there is no law or supreme power; a state of lawlessness; political confusion.
    Spread anarchy and terror all around. Cowper.
  2. Hence, confusion or disorder, in general.
    There being then . . . an anarchy, as I may term it, in authors and their rekoning of years. Fuller.

Webster 1913