aristocracy

Borrowed from Middle French aristocratie, from Medieval Latin *aristocratia, from Ancient Greek ἀριστοκρατίᾱ (aristokratíā, “the rule of the best”), from ἄριστος (áristos, “best, noblest”) + -κρατίᾱ (-kratíā), from κράτος (krátos, “power, rule”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌæ.ɹɪˈstɒk.ɹə.si/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɛɹ.ɪˈstɑk.ɹə.si/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: a‧ris‧to‧cra‧cy

aristocracy (countable and uncountable, plural aristocracies)

1. The nobility, or the hereditary ruling class.
   • 1791, Thomas Paine, Rights of Man:

     That, then, which is called aristocracy in some countries and nobility in others arose out of the governments founded upon conquest.

2. Government by such a class, or a state with such a government
3. A class of people considered (not normally universally) superior to others

• bunyip aristocracy

• aristocracy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• aristocracy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.