01 n. Government by the best citizens.
pl.
Aristocracies
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1.
Government by the best citizens.
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2.
A ruling body composed of the best citizens.[Obs.]“In the Senate Right not our quest in this, I will protest them To all the world, no aristocracy.” — B. Jonson.
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3.
A form a government, in which the supreme power is vested in the principal persons of a state, or in a privileged order; an oligarchy.“The aristocracy of Venice hath admitted so many abuses, trough the degeneracy of the nobles, that the period of its duration seems approach.” — Swift.
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4.
The nobles or chief persons in a state; a privileged class or patrician order; (in a popular use) those who are regarded as superior to the rest of the community, as in rank, fortune, or intellect.