Other forms: aristocrats
An aristocrat is a member of the highest class, holding a title by birth. A French aristocrat, aristocrats and gentry, look like an aristocrat.
The Greek behind it means rule by the best, which is a claim rather than a description and was made by the people it described. The French Revolution turned the word into an accusation, which it has never quite shaken.
1nounaristocratA member of the highest class, holding a title by birth.
“The aristocrat lived in a huge country house with dozens of servants.”
aristocrat is a noble.
French aristocrate comes from Greek aristos, best, plus kratos, rule.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂er-
Ancient Greek
ἀριστοκρατία
Medieval Latin
aristocratia
French
aristocrate — aristocrat
English, today
aristocrat
Built from
From French aristocrate (“aristocrat”), attested once in the 16th century but recoined in the Revolutionary era, from aristocratie (“aristocracy”), from Medieval Latin aristocratia, from Ancient Greek ἀριστοκρατία, from ἄριστος (“best”) (compare Old English ar) + κράτος (“rule”). by surface analysis, aristo- + -crat.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA