Aristocracies

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Aristocracy \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.


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     2. A ruling body composed of the best citizens. [Obs.]
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              In the Senate
              Right not our quest in this, I will protest them
              To all the world, no aristocracy.     --B. Jonson.
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     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.
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              The aristocracy of Venice hath admitted so many
              abuses, trough the degeneracy of the nobles, that
              the period of its duration seems approach. --Swift.
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     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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