aristocratic problem

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sinhakumara
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aristocratic problem

Post by sinhakumara »

Ancient Greek names like ARISTOTLE, ARISTOPHENES, and ARISTOCLES (Plato) - all of them begin with an ARISTO. How is the word formed and what does it mean ? An early response please !
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Lex
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Re: aristocratic problem

Post by Lex »

Here is a Greek-English dictionary. See if you can't figure it out from there.
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sinhakumara
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Re: aristocratic problem

Post by sinhakumara »

My query has two aspects to it. First, Could every Greek in ancient times append an aristo as part of his name ? or was it a privilege denoting Class ? Secondly, 'Aryah' means superior (person) and 'stu' means commendable in Sanskrit , Is it exactly the same in Greek or is it a bit different ?
sinhakumara.

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Lex
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Re: aristocratic problem

Post by Lex »

sinhakumara wrote:My query has two aspects to it. First, Could every Greek in ancient times append an aristo as part of his name ? or was it a privilege denoting Class ?
I don't know about this question.
sinhakumara wrote: Secondly, 'Aryah' means superior (person) and 'stu' means commendable in Sanskrit , Is it exactly the same in Greek or is it a bit different ?
sinhakumara.
etymonline.com says, in the entry under "aristocracy":
...Gk. aristokratia "government, rule of the best," from aristos "best" (originally "most fitting," from PIE *ar-isto-, superlative form of *ar- "to fit together")...
Under "arete":
important concept in Gk. philosophy, "virtue, excellence," lit. "that which is good." The comp. form is areion, the superl. is aristos (cf. aristocracy).
I, Lex Llama, super genius, will one day rule this planet! And then you'll rue the day you messed with me, you damned dirty apes!

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