aristocracy的词源
英文词源
- aristocracy
- aristocracy: [16] Greek áristos meant ‘best’; hence aristocracy signifies, etymologically, ‘rule by the best’ (the suffix -cracy derives ultimately from Greek krátos ‘strength, power’, a relative of English hard). The term aristokratíā was used by Aristotle and Plato in their political writings, denoting ‘government of a state by those best fitted for the task’, and English writers perpetuated the usage when the word was borrowed from French aristocratie: Thomas Hobbes, for instance, wrote ‘Aristocracy is that, wherein the highest magistrate is chosen out of those that have had the best education’, Art of Rhetoric 1679.
But from the first the term was also used in English for ‘rule by a privileged class’, and by the mid 17th century this had begun to pass into ‘the privileged class’ itself, ‘the nobility’. The derived aristocrat appeared at the end of the 18th century; it was a direct borrowing of French aristocrate, a coinage inspired by the French Revolution.
=> hard - aristocracy (n.)
- 1560s, from Middle French aristocracie (Modern French aristocratie), from Late Latin aristocratia, from Greek aristokratia "government or rule of the best," from aristos "best" (originally "most fitting," from PIE *ar-isto-, superlative form of *ar- "to fit together;" see arm (n.1)) + kratos "rule, power" (see -cracy).
At first in a literal sense of "government by those who are the best citizens;" meaning "rule by a privileged class" (best-born or best-favored by fortune) is from 1570s and became paramount 17c. Hence, the meaning "patrician order" (1650s). In early use contrasted with monarchy; after French and American revolutions, with democracy.
中文词源
古希腊时期的杰出哲学家苏格拉底主张专家治国论，认为国家应该由经过训练、有知识才干的人来治理，反对通过抽签选举法实行的民主。后来，苏格拉底被雅典公民大会以崇拜新神和腐蚀青年思想的罪名判处死刑。苏格拉底死于雅典的民主政体下，使得苏格拉底的学生柏拉图进一步加强了对雅典民主政体的怀疑。因此，柏拉图提出了“精英治国”的观点，即应该由最杰出的精英来治理国家，而不是普通百姓直接参与国家治理。这就是近代“代议制民主”思想的萌芽。在希腊语中，“精英治国”称为aristokratia，由aristos（最好的）+kratos（统治）构成。这就是英语单词aristocracy的来源。后来在中古时期，由于贵族阶层（nobility）往往以社会精英自居，因此“贵族统治”也被称为aristocracy。
aristocracy： [,ærɪ'stɒkrəsɪ] n.精英治国，贵族统治，贵族政治
该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：aristocracy 词源，aristocracy 含义。
发音释义：[,ærɪ'stɒkrəsɪ] n.贵族政治；贵族统治；精英政治
结构分析：aristocracy = aristo（精英）+cracy（统治）→精英统治→贵族统治
词源解释：aristo←希腊语aristos（最好的）；cracy←希腊语kratos（统治）
背景知识：古希腊时期的杰出哲学家苏格拉底主张专家治国论，认为国家应该由经过训练、有知识才干的人来治理，反对通过抽签选举法实行的民主。后来，苏格拉底被雅典公民大会以崇拜新神和腐蚀青年思想的罪名判处死刑。苏格拉底死于雅典的民主政体下，使得苏格拉底的学生柏拉图进一步加强了对雅典民主政体的怀疑。因此，柏拉图提出了“精英治国”的观点，即应该由最杰出的精英来治理国家，而不是普通百姓直接参与国家治理。这就是近代“代议制民主”思想的萌芽。在希腊语中，“精英治国”称为aristokratia，由aristos（最好的）+kratos（统治）构成。这就是英语单词aristocracy的来源。后来在中古时期，由于贵族阶层（nobility）往往以社会精英自居，因此“贵族统治”也被称为aristocracy。
同源词：democracy（民主政治），autocracy（独裁政治）
衍生词：aristocrat（贵族，从aristocracy倒生出来）
词根arist-, 最好的，来自词根ar-, 连结，匹配，词源同arm. -ist, 最高级后缀。词根cracy, 统治，管理，词源同democracy,词源同hard, 由硬衍生力量，权力。
