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Aristocracy - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Aristocracy : (noun)
1: a privileged class holding hereditary titles [syn: nobility]
2: the most powerful members of a society [syn: gentry]
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Aristocracy : \Ar`is*toc"ra*cy\, n.; pl. Aristocracies. [Gr. ?;
? best _ ? to be strong, to rule, ? strength; ? is perh. from
the same root as E. arm, and orig. meant fitting: cf. F.
aristocratie. See Arm, and Create, which is related to
Gr. ?.]
1. Government by the best citizens.
2. A ruling body composed of the best citizens. [Obs.]
In the Senate Right not our quest in this, I will
protest them To all the world, no aristocracy. --B.
Jonson.
3. A form a government, in which the supreme power is vested
in the principal persons of a state, or in a privileged
order; an oligarchy.
The aristocracy of Venice hath admitted so many
abuses, trough the degeneracy of the nobles, that
the period of its duration seems approach. --Swift.
4. The nobles or chief persons in a state; a privileged class
or patrician order; (in a popular use) those who are
regarded as superior to the rest of the community, as in
rank, fortune, or intellect.
Based on WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003)
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