ἀριστοκρατία Ancient Greek · revision 3179

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=5th century BC, Thucydides|origins=grc ἄριστος, grc κράτος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /a.ris.to.kra.tí.aː/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /a.ris.to.kraˈti.a/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /a.ris.to.kraˈti.a/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ἀριστοκρᾰτίᾱ''' (aristokratíā) ''f'' (genitive ἀριστοκρᾰτίᾱς); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound of [[ἄριστος|tr=áristos|t=best]] and the element [[m|grc|-κρατία|tr=-kratía|t=rule]], from [[κράτος|tr=krátos|t=power, rule]]: “rule of the best”.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Thucydides speaks of a “moderate aristocracy”.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In political theory it was one of the forms of constitution: Plato's ''Statesman'' uses it for the rule of the rich, and Aristotle and Polybius for the rule of the best, an ideal constitution beside monarchy and polity, which could decay into oligarchy.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)^(CGL 2021) The comic poet Heniochus brings Aristocracy on stage as a woman opposed to Democracy.^(DGE)

+

+ English took ''aristocracy'' from French and Late Latin in the 1560s, at first contrasted with monarchy.^(Etymonline) Modern Greek [[m|el|αριστοκρατία|tr=aristokratía]] is both the ancient constitution and, after French ''aristocratie'', the class of nobles or the rich.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 5th century BC – Thucydides speaks of a “moderate aristocracy”.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for rule by the rich.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 4th century BC – Aristotle treats it as a form of constitution.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd century BC – Polybius includes it in his cycle of constitutions.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1560s – English borrows ''aristocracy''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Rule by the best men, [[m|en|aristocracy]].^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # Rule by the rich.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(political theory)'' An ideal constitution, the rule of the best.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ἄριστος|tr=áristos]]

+ * [[κράτος|tr=krátos]]

+ * [[δημοκρατία|tr=dēmokratía]]

+ * [[ὀλιγαρχία|tr=oligarkhía]]

+ * [[en|aristocracy]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}