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27 results for: Aristocracy

Dictionary Entries (7 more entries. View all »)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
ar·is·toc·ra·cy    Audio Help   [ar-uh-stok-ruh-see] Pronunciation Key
–noun, plural -cies.
1.a class of persons holding exceptional rank and privileges, esp. the hereditary nobility.
2.a government or state ruled by an aristocracy, elite, or privileged upper class.
3.government by those considered to be the best or most able people in the state.
4.a governing body composed of those considered to be the best or most able people in the state.
5.any class or group considered to be superior, as through education, ability, wealth, or social prestige.
[Origin: 1555–65; (< MF aristocratie) < ML aristocracia (var. of -tia) < Gk aristokratía rule of the best. See aristo-, -cracy]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Thesaurus Entries
  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus - Cite This Source
Main Entry:  society
Part of Speech:  noun
Definition:  People of the highest social level.
Synonyms:  blue blood, crème de la crème, elite, flower, gentility, gentry, nobility, patriciate, quality, upper class, who's who
Source:  Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition
by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary.
Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.


Encyclopedia Articles (17 more entries. View all »)
Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia - Cite This Source

aristocracy [Gr.,=rule by the best], in political science, government by a social elite. In the West the political concept of aristocracy derives from Plato's formulation in the Republic. The criteria on which aristocracy is based may vary greatly from society to society. Historically, aristocracies have usually rested on landed property, have invoked heredity, and, despite frequent conflicts with the throne, have flourished chiefly within the framework of monarchy. Aristocracy may be based on wealth as well as land, as in ancient Carthage and medieval Venice, or may be a theocracy like the Brahman caste in India. Other criteria can be age, race, military prowess, or cultural attainment. The best example of a modern landowning aristocracy that conducted government was in England from 1688 to 1832. A resurgence by the French aristocracy in the 18th cent. was ended by the French Revolution, which abolished most of the privileges on which it was based. Inflation, which cut into the fixed income of the aristocracy, the loss of the traditional military role of the aristocracy, and the rise of industry and decline in the importance of landed property have all worked against the aristocracy. Today the political power of traditional western aristocracy has all but disappeared.

See J. H. Kautsky, The Politics of Aristocratic Empires (1982).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press


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