'Plutocracy' is Greek for 'rule of the wealthy' — from 'ploutos' (wealth) + 'kratos' (power).
Government by the wealthy. A state or society governed by the wealthy. A wealthy elite that controls a government or holds disproportionate influence.
From Greek 'ploutokratía' (πλουτοκρατία, rule of the wealthy), a compound of 'ploûtos' (πλοῦτος, wealth, riches) + 'krátos' (κράτος, power, rule, strength). The Greek 'krátos' descends from PIE *kret- (power, physical strength), found also in Sanskrit 'krátu-' (power, might, wisdom) and related to English 'hard' via a separate branch. The Greek 'ploûtos' derives from PIE *plew- (to flow, float, overflow), wealth conceived as something that flows abundantly or floods in. The same PIE root gave Latin
The Greek god Pluto — ruler of the underworld — was given the euphemistic name 'Plouton' (the wealthy one) because the Greeks were reluctant to say his real name, Hades, for fear of attracting his attention. The euphemism stuck: riches come from beneath the earth (gold, silver, gems), so the lord of the underworld was, logically, the lord of wealth. When Glenn Seaborg named the element plutonium in 1941 (after the planet Pluto, which had been discovered