The aristocracy was a social class that a particular social order considered the highest of that society. Specifically, in many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) who typically possessed a hereditary rank and specifically titles. In some societies—such as Ancient Greece, Rome, and India—aristocratic status could derive from membership of a military caste, although it has also been very common for aristocrats to belong to priestly dynasties in lieu of this, as is the case in polities all over the continent of Africa. Aristocratic status can involve feudal or legal privileges. They are usually below only the monarch of a country or nation in its social hierarchy. In modern era European societies, the aristocracy has often coincided with the nobility, a specific class that arose in the Middle Ages, but the term "aristocracy" is sometimes also applied to other elites, and is used as a more generic term in reference to earlier and non-European societies. The term aristocracy derives from the Greek ἀριστοκρατία (aristokratia ἄριστος (aristos) "excellent," and κράτος (kratos) "power." In most cases, aristocratic titles were and are hereditary.

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