From Greek 'hēgemōn' (leader) — Gramsci transformed the word in the 1930s to describe how ruling classes manufacture consent.
Leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group.
From Greek 'hēgemonía' (leadership, command, supremacy of one state over others), from 'hēgemṓn' (leader, guide, commander), from 'hēgeîsthai' (to lead, to go before, to guide), from PIE *sāg- (to seek out, to track, to perceive). This root produced a family of words connected to purposeful seeking: Old English 'sécan' (to seek — ancestor of 'seek'), Gothic 'sokjan', Latin 'sagire' (to perceive keenly), 'sagax' (keen-scented, shrewd — source of 'sagacious'), and 'saga' (the Germanic narrative form from Old Norse 'saga', literally a saying or seeking). 'Hegemony' entered political theory through Thucydides, who
Antonio Gramsci transformed the word in the 1930s, using 'hegemony' to describe how ruling classes maintain power through cultural and ideological dominance rather than just force.