meritocracy

Etymology
, in an article in Socialist Commentary from May 1956, used as a derisive term, and popularized by British sociologist  in his 1958 book .

Noun

 * 1) Rule by merit and talent.
 * 2) A type of society where wealth, income, and social status are assigned through competition.

Usage notes
Though widely used as a term of praise, the term was originally coined as a satire, and a critique of awarding educational achievement.

Translations

 * Catalan: meritocràcia
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: 精英政治, 精英管理,, 英才管理
 * Czech: meritokracie
 * Danish: meritokrati
 * Dutch:
 * Finnish:
 * French:
 * Georgian:
 * German: ,
 * Greek:
 * Hungarian:
 * Icelandic: gáfumannaveldi, veldi hæfileikamanna
 * Indonesian: meritokrasi
 * Irish: tuilleamhlathas
 * Italian:
 * Japanese: 能力主義
 * Kazakh: меритократия
 * Kyrgyz: меритократия
 * Malay:
 * Persian:
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese:
 * Punjabi: ਯੋਗਤਾਰਾਜ, ਯੋਗਤਾਤੰਤਰ
 * Romanian: meritocrație
 * Russian:
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:
 * Thai:
 * Turkish: meritokrasi