aristocratia

Forms

aristocratia f (genitive aristocratiae); first declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀριστοκρατία (aristokratía, “rule of the best”),^[1][3][4] a Greek compound of ἄριστος (áristos, “best”) and κράτος (krátos, “strength, power”).^[3] Albertus Magnus already explains its composition from the Greek.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The only ancient instance the TLL and Georges record is in Hegesippus, who speaks of the times when there was an aristocracy.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin, Albertus Magnus lists it with monarchy and timocracy among the forms of government, in his commentary on the Politics defines it as the rule of many who hold power because of their virtue, and says that bees, with their many leaders, are more like an aristocracy than a monarchy.^[4] Thomas Aquinas calls it the power of the best, in which a few rule according to virtue.^[5] In England Ockham and Wyclif weigh it against rule by one person.^[6] A Polish text of 1519 sets it against monarchy as the form to be kept.^[7]

Timeline

• Late antiquity – Hegesippus speaks of the times of an aristocracy.^[1][2]
• 13th century – Albertus Magnus defines it as rule by the virtuous few.^[4][3]
• 1st half of the 14th century – Ockham compares it with rule by one person.^[6][3]
• 1519 – A Polish text prefers it to monarchy.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Aristocracy, government by the best or the noblest citizens.^[1][2][4][3]

Related words

• English aristocracy

References

1. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
6. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl