ANARCHY, the want of government in a nation, where no supreme authority is lodged either in the prince or other rulers; but the people live at large, and all things are in confusion. The word is derived from the Greek privative a and ἀρχή, command, principality. Anarchy is supposed to have reigned after the deluge, before the foundation of monarchies. We still find it to obtain in several parts, particularly of Africa and America.