aristocracy

Meaning

Noun

• The nobility, or the hereditary ruling class.
• Government by such a class, or a state with such a government
• A class of people considered (not normally universally) superior to others

Origin

• Borrowed from Middle French aristocratie, from Medieval Latin *aristocratia, from Ancient Greek ἀριστοκρατίᾱ ("the rule of the best“, that is, “the best-born”, “nobility"), from ἄριστος + -κρατίᾱ, from κράτος.