but the dictionary does use one similar to the academic definition...

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anarchism

if we use dictionary.com

"the principles or practice of anarchists"

so you're wrong by your own source

anarchist thinkers, philosophers and academics should obviously get to define the term, no? Dictionaries are often wrong in countless ways for academic usage because the meaning of words are often more complex than can be summarized in one paragraph, dictionaries are not ultimate references, and ANYONE can create a dictionary, these are not academically primarily sourced documents these are what some guy thinks a word means based on a survey of some people who claim to, in no way shape or form should dictionaries be used in place of foundational documents and the notion that they are perfect and the best way to derive the meaning of any word is false...

both of your references are literally designed to be summaries of topics as quickly as possible, and often contain glaring inaccuracies, in academia you aren't even allowed to cite an encyclopedia, or a dictionary, and this is for good reason.

"Who writes the dictionary? Where do they get their information and authority? What if the dictionary has a typo, misprint, or error? If nobody catches an error, does that mean everybody is "secretly incorrect"? If tomorrow the Academie française publishes a new dictionary that states all /i/ vowels are pronounced [a], does that make swiftly ~80 million native French speakers incorrect?" --another comment on the matter i found elsewhere