Definition of "absolutism"

absolutism

/ˈæb.sə.luː.tɪz.m̩/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural absolutisms
1. (theology) Doctrine of preordination; doctrine of absolute decrees; doctrine that God acts in an absolute manner.
2. (political science, sociology) The principles or practice of absolute or arbitrary government; despotism.
  Quotations
  The element of absolutism and prelacy was more controlling in the counsels of the rival corporation.
  1859, John Gorham Palfrey, chapter IV, in History of New England, volume I, page 217
3. (philosophy) Belief in a metaphysical absolute; belief in Absolute.
4. Positiveness; the state of being absolute.
5. (rare) The characteristic of being absolute in nature or scope; absoluteness.
  Quotations
  It was the absolutism of his ambition to be a perfect writer (and perhaps also the perfect son) that imperiled him.
  2003, Ruth R. Wisse, The Modern Jewish Canon: A Journey Through Language