Origin and history of autocrat

"holding unlimited and independent powers of government," 1815 (in reference to Napoleon), from French autocratique, from autocrate, from Latinized form of Greek autokratēs "ruling by oneself, absolute, autocratic" (see autocrat). The earlier autocratoric (1670s) was directly from Greek autokratorikos "of or for an autocrat, despotically." Autocratical is attested from 1767 (in reference to Elizabeth I).

word-forming element of Greek origin meaning "self, one's own, by oneself, of oneself" (and especially, from 1895, "automobile"), from Greek autos, reflexive pronoun, "self, same," which is of unknown origin. It also was a common word-forming element in ancient Greek, as in modern English, but very few of the old words have survived the interval.

In Greek, as a word-forming element, auto- had the sense of "self, one's own, of oneself ('independently'); of itself ('natural, native, not made'); just exactly; together with." Before a vowel, it became aut-; before an aspirate, auth-. In Greek it also was used as a prefix to proper names, as in automelinna "Melinna herself." The opposite prefix would be allo-.

word-forming element forming nouns meaning "rule or government by," from French -cratie or directly from Medieval Latin -cratia, from Greek -kratia "power, might; rule, sway; power over; a power, authority," from kratos "strength" (from PIE *kre-tes- "power, strength," suffixed form of root *kar- "hard").

Productive in English from c. 1800, the connective -o- has come to be viewed as part of it.