aristocratie

Forms

aristocratie f (plural aristocraties)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀριστοκρατία (aristokratía, “rule of the best”), taken in by Nicole Oresme partly through the Latin translations of Aristotle.^[2][3][4][1] The Greek word is formed from ἄριστος (áristos, “best”) and κράτος (krátos, “strength, power”).^[2][5] Oresme explained its first part as a word meaning virtue.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nicole Oresme uses it in his translation of Aristotle's Ethics for a form of government in which the great and the noble rule; the Grand Robert, GLLF and Rey date it 1361, the TLFi 1370.^[6][7][4][2]

Semantic evolution

Until the French Revolution it was a learned word used only of Antiquity.^[2] In 1789, following aristocrate, it spread to mean the nobility as a class, and the leading part of any group, as in aristocratie des magistrats (1788) and aristocratie de l'argent (1789).^[2][6] It was used of a military elite in 1817 and of an intellectual one by Comte in 1832–1842.^[6]

Timeline

• 1361 – Oresme uses the word, by the date of the Grand Robert and GLLF.^[7][4]
• 1370 – Oresme's Livre des Ethiques, the TLFi's first record.^[6]
• 1789 – Le Moniteur uses it for the nobility.^[6][2]
• 1817 – Mme de Staël writes of l'aristocratie militaire.^[6]
• 1832–1842 – Auguste Comte uses aristocratie des lumières.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A form of government in which power belongs to a few, especially a hereditary class.^[5][6]
2. The class that holds such power.^[5]
3. The nobility, the aristocracy: l'aristocratie anglaise.^[5][8]
4. A small group that stands out in some field, an elite: une aristocratie de savants.^[5][6]

Word family

• aristocrate
• aristocratiser

Related words

• aristocratique
• démocratie
• Ancient Greek ἀριστοκρατία (aristokratía)

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette