aristocracy
/ˌærɪˈstɑːkrəsi/noun
Government by a privileged hereditary or elite class
From Greek aristo- (Best).
Lineage
aristo-
-cracy
The story
In ancient Greek, aristos meant “best,” while kratos meant “power” or “rule”: put them together and you get rule by the best. The catch, of course, was deciding who counted as best; the word soon came to suggest the best-born, and then a privileged class with inherited rank and wealth. English picked it up in the 1560s, initially for government by the best citizens, and its meaning shifted as political arguments changed. After the French and American revolutions, aristocracy was increasingly set against democracy—not simply a theory of who should rule, but a name for the people who already did. The word’s little sting is still there: a claim to be “the best” can sound very different when it comes with a family tree and an estate.
Words from the same roots
aristo- · Ancient Greek, ‘Best, noblest, or most virtuous’
Derivedaristocrat, aristocratic, aristocratize
-cracy · Ancient Greek, ‘Rule, power, or government’
Deriveddemocracy, bureaucracy, plutocracy, autocracy, theocracy
Sources
- Etymonlinearistocracy, abstract, masochism, pompadour
- Wikipediaaristocracy
- Wiktionaryaristocracy, aristos, abstract