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.
Hear it pronounced