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The 1st Earl of Bolingbroke, a seventeenth-century English aristocrat and politician. Aristocracy (from Ancient Greek ἀριστοκρατίᾱ ( aristokratíā ) 'rule of the best'; from ἄριστος ( áristos ) 'best' and κράτος ( krátos ) 'power, strength') is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small ...
Etymologically, as the word developed, it also produced a more political term: aristoi (ἄριστοι). The term aristocracy is a compound word stemming from the singular of aristoi, aristos (ἄριστος), and the Greek word for power, kratos (κράτος). Hon. Arthur Wellesley later made Duke of Wellington after defeating Napoleon.
Freiherr, a German word meaning literally "Free Master" or "Free Lord" (i.e. not subdued to feudal chores or drudgery), is the German equivalent of the English term "Baron", with the important difference that unlike the British Baron, he is not a "Peer of the Realm" (member of the high aristocracy). [39] The female equivalent is Freifrau.
The Modern French word bourgeois (/ ˈ b ʊər ʒ w ɑː / ⓘ BOORZH-wah or / b ʊər ˈ ʒ w ɑː / ⓘ boorzh-WAH, French: ⓘ) derived from the Old French borgeis or borjois ('town dweller'), which derived from bourg ('market town'), from the Old Frankish burg ('town'); in other European languages, the etymologic derivations include the Middle English burgeis, the Middle Dutch burgher, the ...
The Old English word for lord is hlaford (' loaf-guardian ' or ' bread-giver '). [10] The early law codes of Kent use the Old English word eorl (' high born ', ' noble ') to describe an aristocrat. By the 8th century, the word gesith (' companion '; Latin: comes) had replaced eorl as the common term for a nobleman. [11] [12]
Refers to the Greek terminology for "nobility", and is the root term for aristocrat; This also refers to the Greek term for "superior" "best", see Arete (excellence) Aristos (publication) Aristos (Saga of the Skolian Empire) The Aristos, a 1964 book by John Fowles; Aristos Papandroulakis (born 1965), celebrity chef
Ivory seal of Godwin, an unknown thegn – first half of eleventh century, British Museum In later Anglo-Saxon England, a thegn or thane [1] (Latin minister [2]) was an aristocrat who ranked at the third level in lay society, below the king and ealdormen. [3]
The natural aristocracy is a concept developed by Thomas Jefferson in 1813 which describes a political elite that derives its power from talent and virtue (or merit). He distinguishes this from traditional aristocracies, which he refers to as the artificial aristocracy, a ruling elite that derives its power solely from inherited status, or wealth and birth.