Aristocracy Meaning
/ˌæɹ.ɪˈstɒk.ɹə.si/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe nobility, or the hereditary ruling class.
nounGovernment by such a class, or a state with such a government.
Sentence Examples
Nancy comes from what we call the aristocracy.
They are considered the aristocracy in our town.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ often owned vast estates and held positions of power.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ held most of the power and wealth in the medieval kingdom.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"But when Nietzsche has the incredible lack of humour and lack of imagination to ask us to believe that his aristocracy is an aristocracy of strong muscles or an aristocracy of strong wills, it is necessary to point out the truth. It is an aristocracy of weak nerves."
— 1905, G.K. Chesterton, Heretics:
"That, then, which is called aristocracy in some countries and nobility in others arose out of the governments founded upon conquest."
— 1791, Thomas Paine, Rights of Man:
"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;..."
— 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 255:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ often owned vast estates and held positions of power.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ held most of the power and wealth in the medieval kingdom.