Meaning of ARISTOCRACY
| Pronunciation: | | `ari'stâkrusee
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | |
- [n] the most powerful members of a society
- [n] a privileged class holding hereditary titles
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| | Synonyms: | | gentry, nobility |
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| | See Also: | | aristocrat, baronage, blue blood, elite, Ferdinand and Isabella, knighthood, landed gentry, lords temporal, noblesse, patrician, peerage, samurai, second estate, squirearchy, upper class, upper crust, William and Mary | |
| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | | \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.
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | absolute monarchy, aedileship, ancestry, ancienne noblesse, archbishopric, archiepiscopacy, archiepiscopate, aristocraticalness, autarchy, autocracy, autonomy, baronage, baronetage, barons, beau monde, birth, bishopric, blood, blue blood, bon ton, carriage trade, chairmanship, chancellery, chancellorate, chancellorship, chiefery, chiefry, chieftaincy, chieftainry, chieftainship, chivalry, coalition government, colonialism, commonwealth, constitutional government, constitutional monarchy, consulate, consulship, county, cream, deanery, democracy, dictatorship, dictature, directorship, distinction, dominion rule, duarchy, duumvirate, dyarchy, elect, elite, emirate, episcopacy, establishment, federal government, federation, feudal system, FFVs, flower, garrison state, genteelness, gentility, gentry, gerontocracy, governorship, haut monde, headship, hegemony, heteronomy, hierarchy, hierocracy, high life, high society, home rule, honorable descent, jet set, knightage, leadership, limited monarchy, lords of creation, lordship, magistracy, magistrateship, magistrature, martial law, masterdom, mastership, mastery, mayoralty, mayorship, meritocracy, metropolitanate, metropolitanship, militarism, military government, mob rule, mobocracy, monarchy, neocolonialism, nobility, noble birth, nobleness, noblesse, noblesse de robe, ochlocracy, old nobility, oligarchy, overlapping, pantisocracy, papacy, pashadom, pashalic, patriarchate, patriarchy, patricians, patriciate, peerage, police state, pontificality, pontificate, popedom, popehood, popeship, power elite, power structure, prefectship, prefecture, premiership, presidency, presidentship, prime-ministership, prime-ministry, princedom, princeship, principality, proconsulate, proconsulship, protectorate, protectorship, provostry, provostship, pure democracy, quality, rank, rectorate, rectorship, regency, regentship, representative democracy, representative government, republic, royalty, ruling circles, ruling class, seigniory, self-determination, self-government, seneschalship, seneschalsy, sheikhdom, sheriffalty, sheriffcy, sheriffdom, shrievalty, smart set, social democracy, society, stratocracy, supervisorship, suzerainship, suzerainty, technocracy, the best, the best people, the brass, the classes, the Four Hundred, thearchy, theocracy, top people, totalitarian government, totalitarian regime, triarchy, tribunate, triumvirate, tyranny, upper class, upper classes, upper crust, upper ten, upper ten thousand, uppercut, vizierate, viziership, welfare state |
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