Word part · Greek root
Crat root words: meaning and 15 examples
In short
The Greek root crat (from Greek) means "rule, or power". It is also spelled cracy. Words with it include democracy, democracies, democratic, undemocratic, democratically and autocrat. Spelled cracy for a kind of government and crat for a person who holds that power: autocracy, autocrat.
- Part
- crat
- Meaning
- rule, or power
- Origin
- Greek
- Also spelled
- cracy
- Words listed
- 15
Spelled cracy for a kind of government and crat for a person who holds that power: autocracy, autocrat.
Words with the Greek root crat
The list runs from shorter, common words to longer ones. The bands are a rough guide built from syllable count and how common each word is in our word list, not a grade-level standard. Read each word, then its word sum.
Colors:prefixroot or basesuffix
Next: longer words (about grades 5 and 6)
| Word | Word sum | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| democratic | demo (root or base)+crat (root or base)+ic (suffix)→democratic | run by the people, or fair to everyone who votes |
| autocrat | auto (root or base)+crat (root or base)→autocrat | a ruler who holds all the power alone |
| bureaucrat | bureau (root or base)+crat (root or base)→bureaucrat | an official who works in a government office |
More words: theocracy
Stretch: long or less common words (about grades 7 and 8)
| Word | Word sum | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| democracy | demo (root or base)+cracy (root or base)→democracy | a government where the people rule by voting |
| democracies | demo (root or base)+cracy (root or base)+es (suffix)→democracieschange y to i | more than one democracy |
| undemocratic | un (prefix)+demo (root or base)+crat (root or base)+ic (suffix)→undemocratic | not run by the people or their votes |
| democratically | demo (root or base)+crat (root or base)+ic (suffix)+al (suffix)+ly (suffix)→democratically | in a way where the people decide by voting |
| autocratic | auto (root or base)+crat (root or base)+ic (suffix)→autocratic | ruling alone, with no one else getting a say |
| autocracy | auto (root or base)+cracy (root or base)→autocracy | a government where one person holds all the power |
| bureaucracy | bureau (root or base)+cracy (root or base)→bureaucracy | a large system of offices and officials that run things |
| bureaucratic | bureau (root or base)+crat (root or base)+ic (suffix)→bureaucratic | having to do with offices, forms and many rules |
More words: aristocrat, aristocracy, aristocratic
Where does crat sit in a word?
A root can come first, last or in the middle. Students who only look at the start of a word miss half of these.
- In the middle:
- democratic, undemocratic, democratically, autocratic, bureaucratic
- At the end:
- democracy, democracies, autocrat, autocracy, bureaucrat, bureaucracy
How do you teach the root crat?
Crat is the root for talking about who holds power, so it fits a social studies lesson well. Start with the pairs: democracy and democratic, autocracy and autocrat. Cracy names the kind of government, and crat points to the person or the quality. Then ask the question that makes the root useful: who rules? In a democracy, the people do. In an autocracy, one person does. In a bureaucracy, it can feel like the offices do.
A quick routine
Write cracy and crat on two cards and say, "Cracy is the kind of rule. Crat is the person who has it." Hold up auto and the student builds autocracy, then autocrat, and explains, "Auto means self, so one person rules alone." Repeat with demo and bureau. Finish by reading a sentence aloud with a blank, such as "The king ruled as an ____," and the student picks the word.
What do students mix up with crat?
Plenty of words contain the letters c-r-a-t with no link to power: crate, crater, scratch. This root almost always comes at the end of the word, so a word that starts with crat probably isn't it. Students also misspell democracy with an s, writing democrasy. Point out that the ending is cracy, with a c, in every word for a kind of government.
Some of these words change spelling where the parts join. The spelling rules pages cover dropping e, doubling and changing y to i. For the sounds inside these words, see the phonics word lists. Routines that fit: meanings of prefixes and suffixes, circle the parts, read the base and flexible routine for big words.
Questions people ask
What does the root crat mean?
Crat means "rule, or power". It is a Greek root, also spelled cracy. Spelled cracy for a kind of government and crat for a person who holds that power: autocracy, autocrat.
What are some words with the root crat?
Start with democratic, autocrat, bureaucrat and theocracy. Then move to democracy and democracies. This page lists 15 words in all, most with a word sum that shows the parts.
What is the difference between -cracy and -crat?
Cracy names a system of rule, such as democracy or autocracy. Crat names a person tied to that system, such as an autocrat or a bureaucrat. Add ic to crat and you get a describing word: democratic, autocratic.
Teach word parts with ready lessons
Literacy Trail has word parts lessons with words to read, build, split and spell, and full-screen players for the student. Every plan starts with a 15-day free trial.