different between aristocracy vs bureaucracy

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French aristocratie, from Medieval Latin *aristocratia, from Ancient Greek ???????????? (aristokratí?, “the rule of the best“, that is, “the best-born”, “nobility”), from ??????? (áristos, “best, noblest”) + -?????? (-kratí?), from ?????? (krátos, “power, rule”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?æ.???st?k.??.si/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /???.??st?k.??.si/
• Hyphenation: a?ris?to?cra?cy

Noun

aristocracy (countable and uncountable, plural aristocracies)

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

Derived terms

• bunyip aristocracy

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• aristocracy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• aristocracy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Alternative forms

• bureaucratie
• bureau-ocracy (dated)
• burocracy (American)

Etymology

bureau +? -cracy, from French bureaucratie, coined by Jean Claude Marie Vincent de Gournay from bureau (“office”) + -cratie (“rule of”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bj?????k??si/
• (US) IPA^(key): /bj?????k??si/

Noun

bureaucracy (countable and uncountable, plural bureaucracies)

1. Government by bureaus or their administrators or officers.
2. (business, organizational theory) A system of administration based upon organisation into bureaus, division of labour, a hierarchy of authority, etc., designed to dispose of a large body of work in a routine manner.

3. The body of officers and administrators, especially of a government.

4. Excessive red tape and routine in any administration, body or behaviour.

Derived terms

• bureaucrat
• bureaucratese
• bureaucratic
• bureaucratically

Translations

See also

• adhocracy

Further reading

• "bureaucracy" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 49.