Aristocracy

Ar·is·toc·ra·cy

Aristocracy

n.

pl. Aristocracies

  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.
  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.
  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.