aristarchy

A1R1I1S1T1A1R1C3H4Y4

noun

Government by the best people.

OriginAncient Greek ἄριστος →
Scrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounaristarchy (countable and uncountable, plural aristarchies)

plural aristarchies

  1. countableuncountableGovernment by the best people.

    All good and wholesome laws, virtue and truth above all things, and aristarchy, live forever. But woe to tyrants, mobs, aristocracy, anarchy, and toryism […]

    1838, B. H. Roberts, quoting Joseph Smith, A comprehensive history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, volume 2, published 1930, page 428
  2. countableuncountableA body of such rulers.

    [A Presbyterian session] is […] a court of monarchs, or aristarchs, who hold their office for life; a limited monarchy […] or, more strictly, an aristarchy of rulers appointed for life, and ruling on the principle of elective aristarchy.

    1854, Leicester Ambrose Sawyer, Organic Christianity, Part IV, Division V, Chapter III, page 248

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekἄριστος“best”
  2. Englisharistarchy

From Ancient Greek ἄριστος (áristos, “best”) + -αρχία (-arkhía, “rule”).

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

aristarchy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aristarchy

MLA

“aristarchy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aristarchy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aristarchy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aristarchy.

Source: aristarchy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.