Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1400-1500
Language: French
Origin: aristocratie, from Late Latin, from Greek aristokratia, from aristos 'best' + -kratia '-cracy'

aristocracy

 noun
     
ar‧is‧toc‧ra‧cy plural aristocracies
[countable usually singular] the people in the highest social class, who traditionally have a lot of land, money, and power:
dukes, earls, and other members of the aristocracy
the landed aristocracy (=who own a lot of land)
 ➔ upper class
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
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