aristocracy

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French aristocratie, from Medieval Latin *aristocratia, from Ancient Greek ἀριστοκρατίᾱ (aristokratíā, “the rule of the best“, that is, “the best-born”, “nobility”), from ἄριστος (áristos, “best, noblest”) + -κρατίᾱ (-kratíā), from κράτος (krátos, “power, rule”). By surface analysis, aristo- +‎ -cracy.

Pronunciation

(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

Noun

aristocracy (countable and uncountable, plural aristocracies)

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.
Government by such a class, or a state with such a government
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), OCLC 630079698, page 255:
  How many false principles have been laid down, how much delusion supported, by reference to the glories of Athens and of Rome! It remained for a later time to observe that those so-called republics were but aristocracy in its most oppressive form; and what are now the people were then positive slaves;...
A class of people considered (not normally universally) superior to others

Derived terms

bunyip aristocracy

Related terms

aristocrat
aristocratic

Translations

the nobility or the hereditary ruling class

Afrikaans: adel
Albanian: aristokraci (sq)
Arabic: أَرِسْتُقْرَاطِيَّة‎ f (ʾaristuqrāṭiyya)
Armenian: արիստոկրատիա (hy) (aristokratia)
Asturian: aristocracia (ast) f
Basque: aristokrazia (eu)
Belarusian: арыстакра́тыя f (arystakrátyja)
Bulgarian: аристокрация (bg) f (aristokracija)
Catalan: aristocràcia (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 貴族／贵族 (zh) (guìzú)
Corsican: aristucrazia f
Czech: aristokracie f
Danish: aristokrati (da) n, adel (da) c
Dutch: aristocratie (nl) f, adel (nl) m
Esperanto: aristokrataro
Estonian: aristokraatia
Finnish: aristokratia (fi)
French: aristocratie (fr) f
Friulian: aristocrazie f
Galician: aristocracia (gl) f
Georgian: არისტოკრატია (arisṭoḳraṭia)
German: Aristokratie (de) f
Greek: αριστοκρατία (el) f (aristokratía)
Hebrew: אריסטוקרטיה‎ (he) f (aristokrátya)
Hungarian: arisztokrácia (hu)
Icelandic: aðalsveldi n, úrvalsveldi n
Ido: aristokratio
Indonesian: aristokrat (id)
Italian: aristocrazia (it) f
Japanese: 貴族 (ja) (きぞく, kizoku), 特権階級 (とっけんかいきゅう, tokken kaikyū)
Kazakh: ақсүйектік (aqsüiektık)
Korean: 귀족정 (gwijokjeong), 귀족 (ko) (gwijok)
Latvian: aristokrātija f
Lithuanian: aristokratija (lt) f
Macedonian: аристократија f (aristokratija)
Maori: kāhui ariki, te aitanga a Tiki
Norwegian:
Bokmål: aristokrati (no) n, adel (no) m
Nynorsk: aristokrati n, adel m
Occitan: aristocracia (oc) f
Old English: æþelu f or n
Plautdietsch: Odel m
Polish: arystokracja (pl) f
Portuguese: aristocracia (pt) f
Romanian: aristocrație (ro) f
Russian: аристокра́тия (ru) f (aristokrátija), знать (ru) f (znatʹ)
Sardinian: aristocratzia f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: аристокрација f (Croatia), аристократија f (Bosnia, Serbia)
Roman: aristokràcija (sh) f (Croatia), aristokràtija (sh) f (Bosnia, Serbia)
Slovak: aristokracia (sk) f
Slovene: aristokracija f
Spanish: aristocracia (es) f
Swedish: aristokrati (sv) c, adel (sv) c
Tagalog: butikasan
Thai: อภิชน (th) (aphichon)
Turkish: aristokrasi (tr), soylu erki (tr)
Ukrainian: аристокра́тія (uk) f (arystokrátija)
Vietnamese: chế độ quý tộc

government by such a class

Afrikaans: adel,adelstand
Albanian: aristokraci (sq)
Armenian: արիստոկրատիա (hy) f (aristokratia)
Asturian: aristocracia (ast) f
Basque: aristokrazia (eu)
Belarusian: арыстакра́тыя f (arystakrátyja)
Bulgarian: аристокрация (bg) f (aristokracija)
Catalan: aristocràcia (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 貴族政府／贵族政府 (guìzú zhèngfǔ)
Czech: aristokracie f
Danish: aristokrati (da) n
Dutch: aristocratie (nl) f
Esperanto: aristokratio
Estonian: aristokraatia
Finnish: aristokratia (fi)
French: aristocratie (fr) f
Galician: aristocracia (gl) f
Georgian: არისტოკრატია (arisṭoḳraṭia)
German: Aristokratie (de) f
Greek: αριστοκρατία (el) f (aristokratía)
Hebrew: אריסטוקרטיה‎ (he) f (aristokrátya)
Hungarian: arisztokrácia (hu)
Icelandic: aðalsveldi n, úrvalsveldi n
Ido: aristokratio
Indonesian: aristokrasi (id)
Italian: aristocrazia (it) f
Japanese: 貴族政治 (きぞくせいじ, kizoku seiji)
Korean: 귀족정부 (gwijokjeongbu)
Latvian: aristokrātija f
Lithuanian: aristokratija (lt) f
Macedonian: аристократија f (aristokratija)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: aristokrati (no) n
Nynorsk: aristokrati n
Occitan: aristocracia (oc) f
Polish: arystokracja (pl) f
Portuguese: aristocracia (pt) f
Romanian: aristocrație (ro) f
Russian: аристокра́тия (ru) f (aristokrátija)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: аристокрација f (Croatia), аристократија f (Bosnia, Serbia)
Roman: aristokràcija (sh) f (Croatia), aristokràtija (sh) f (Bosnia, Serbia)
Slovak: aristokracia (sk) f
Slovene: aristokracija f
Spanish: aristocracia (es) f
Swedish: aristokrati (sv) c
Thai: อภิชนาธิปไตย (th) (à-pí-chá-naa-tí-bpà-dtai)
Turkish: aristokrasi (tr)
Ukrainian: аристокра́тія (uk) f (arystokrátija)

class of people considered superior to others

Albanian: aristokraci (sq)
Armenian: արիստոկրատիա (hy) (aristokratia)
Basque: aristokrazia (eu)
Belarusian: арыстакра́тыя f (arystakrátyja)
Bulgarian: аристокрация (bg) f (aristokracija)
Catalan: aristocràcia (ca) f
Czech: aristokracie f
Danish: aristokrati (da) n
Dutch: aristocratie (nl) f
Esperanto: aristokrataro
Estonian: aristokraatia
Finnish: aristokratia (fi)
French: aristocratie (fr) f
Galician: aristocracia (gl) f
Georgian: არისტოკრატია (arisṭoḳraṭia)
German: Aristokratie (de) f
Greek: αριστοκρατία (el) f (aristokratía)
Hungarian: arisztokrácia (hu)
Ido: aristokratio
Italian: aristocrazia (it) f
Latvian: aristokrātija f
Lithuanian: aristokratija (lt) f
Macedonian: аристократија f (aristokratija)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: aristokrati (no) n
Nynorsk: aristokrati n
Polish: arystokracja (pl) f
Portuguese: aristocracia (pt) f
Romanian: aristocrație (ro) f
Russian: аристокра́тия (ru) f (aristokrátija), знать (ru) f (znatʹ)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: аристокрација f (Croatia), аристократија f (Bosnia, Serbia)
Roman: aristokràcija (sh) f (Croatia), aristokràtija (sh) f (Bosnia, Serbia)
Slovak: aristokracia (sk) f
Slovene: aristokracija f
Spanish: aristocracia (es) f
Swedish: aristokrati (sv) c
Thai: อภิชน (th) (aphichon)
Turkish: aristokrasi (tr)
Ukrainian: аристокра́тія (uk) f (arystokrátija)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Maltese: ^{(please verify)} aristokrazija
Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} flaitheachd f, ^{(please verify)} uaisle f, ^{(please verify)} uaisleachd f