papyrocracy
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From papyro- (“papyrus, paper”) + -cracy (“rule by”).
Noun
[edit]papyrocracy (uncountable)
- (uncommon) Synonym of bureaucracy: rule by excessive paperwork or regulation.
- 1848, “Hanging, Past and Present”, in Edinburgh Magazine, number 10, Tate, page 238:
- That Government, however, had a "vow in heaven" against sparing one drop of blood which the tribunals had once devoted to the altars of the Papyrocracy.
References
[edit]- “papyro-, comb. form”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.