aristocracy

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A hereditary ruling class; nobility.
2. n. Government by a ruling class.
3. n. A state or country having this form of government.
4. n. Government by the citizens deemed to be best qualified to lead.
5. n. A state having such a government.
6. n. A group or class considered superior to others.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Government by the best men in the state; a governing body composed of the best men in the state.
2. n. A form of government in which the supreme power is exercised by those members of the state who are distinguished by their rank and opulence. When the ruling power is exercised by a very few of this class to the exclusion of all others, the government becomes an oligarchy.
3. n. A body of persons holding exceptional prescriptive rank or privileges; specifically, a class of hereditary nobility; the nobles of a country and those nearly related to them.
4. n. Persons noted for superiority in any character or quality, taken collectively: as, the aristocracy of wealth or of culture.

Wiktionary

1. n. The nobility, or the hereditary ruling class
2. n. Government by such a class, or a state with such a government
3. n. A class of people considered (not normally universally) superior to others

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. Government by the best citizens.
2. n. obsolete A ruling body composed of the best citizens.
3. n. 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.
4. n. 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.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the most powerful members of a society
2. n. a privileged class holding hereditary titles