Anarchy, n.
Etymology: [Gr. anarchie. See Anarch.]
1. Absence of government; the state of society where there is no law or supreme power; a state of lawlessness; political confusion. Spread anarchy and terror all around. Cowper.
2. Hence, confusion or disorder, in general. There being then . . . an anarchy, as I may term it, in authors and their reFuller.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for anarchy; he lists it under revolution.
Where he writes about it:
Anarchy refers to the condition of a state when human government is superseded or destroyed by factions or other causes. — from revolution
Lawlessness is a temper of mind or condition of the community which may result in anarchy. — from revolution
Confusion, disorder, riot, and tumult are incidental and temporary outbreaks of lawlessness, but may not be anarchy. — from revolution
Anarchy, when more than temporary disorder, is a proposed disintegration of society, in which it is imagined that social order might exist without government. — from revolution