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A '''meritocracy''' (from Latin ''mereō'', "to earn," and Ancient Greek κράτος, "strength, power") is a political or administrative system in which promotions are based on merit, rather than on [[friend]]ship, seniority, [[quota]]s, [[liberal]] [[politics]], or mob rule. The nature of "merit" is not easy to define,<ref><small>[Grok: Explain why Machiavelli's reference to "virtu" is often translated "merit" in English.<br>

A '''meritocracy''' (from Latin ''mereō'', "to earn," and Ancient Greek κράτος, "strength, power") is a political or administrative system in which promotions are based on merit, rather than on [[friend]]ship, seniority, [[quota]]s, [[liberal]] [[politics]], or [[mob rule]]. The nature of "merit" is not easy to define,<ref><small>[Grok: Explain why Machiavelli's reference to "virtu" is often translated "merit" in English.<br>

"The Italian word that Machiavelli uses most famously is virtù (with the accent on the ù), not the modern Italian “virtù” that means moral virtue. In Renaissance Italian (and especially in Machiavelli’s usage), virtù has a much broader, more classical, and more pragmatic meaning that does not primarily denote moral goodness.

"The Italian word that Machiavelli uses most famously is virtù (with the accent on the ù), not the modern Italian “virtù” that means moral virtue. In Renaissance Italian (and especially in Machiavelli’s usage), virtù has a much broader, more classical, and more pragmatic meaning that does not primarily denote moral goodness.