autarky

Meanings

1. A personal condition or state of self-reliance; independence.
2. (A policy of) national economic self-sufficiency, aimed at ending reliance on foreign imports to sustain a domestic economy.
3. A self-sufficient country or region which is not dependent on international trade to function economically.

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek αὐτᾰ́ρκειᾰ (autắrkeiă, “independence, self-sufficiency, autarky; satisfaction with one’s resources, contentment”) + English -y (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state). Αὐτᾰ́ρκειᾰ (Autắrkeiă) is derived from αὐτάρκης (autárkēs, “self-sufficient; content with what one has”) + -ειᾰ (-eiă, suffix forming feminine nouns); while αὐτάρκης (autárkēs) is from αὐτο- (auto-, prefix meaning ‘self’) + ᾰ̓ρκέω (ărkéō, “to be enough for, satisfy, suffice; (passive) to be satisfied with”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erk- (“to guard, protect; to hold; to lock”)) + -ης (-ēs, suffix forming third-declension adjectives).