Word.ws English Dictionary

aristocracy of labor

aristocracy of labor is the alternative form of labour aristocracy.

Meaning of labour aristocracy

Noun

labour aristocracy (countable and uncountable, plural labour aristocracies)

  1. Segment of the working class that enjoys a relatively privileged position compared to the rest of the working class as a result of higher salaries, better working conditions, etc., and which can lead them to have different interests and perspectives even though they continue to be exploited by capitalists.
    • Важно то, что экономически откол слоя рабочей аристократии к буржуазии назрел и завершился, а политическую форму себе, ту или иную, этот экономический факт, эта передвижка в отношениях между классами найдет без особого «труда».1973 [1916], Vladimir Lenin, Империализм и раскол социализма (В. И. Ленин – Полное собрание сочинений; 30), page 170; English translation from Imperialism and the Split in Socialism (V. I. Lenin –...

Forms of aristocracy of labor

pluralaristocracies of labor
alternative formlabour aristocracy
alternative formlabor aristocracy
alternative formaristocracy of labour

Origin of aristocracy of labor

While Mikhail Bakunin is credited with coining this term, it is in fact found in Sam Dolgoff's loose translation [1971] of a fragment [c. 1872], which Bakunin wrote in French and contains no word translatable literally as aristocracy of labo(u)r. In an unsent letter to the journal La Liberté in Brussels [5 October 1972], Bakunin used the wording: “a new aristocracy, that of the urban and industrial workers”. For further etymology, see labo(u)r aristocracy.

Questions about aristocracy of labor

What is aristocracy of labor the alternative form of?
Aristocracy of labor is the alternative form of labour aristocracy.

Words near aristocracy of labor in the dictionary

  1. aristo
  2. aristo-
  3. aristocide
  4. aristocracies
  5. aristocracy
  6. aristocracy of labor
  7. aristocracy of labour
  8. aristocrat
  9. aristocratess
  10. aristocratesses
  11. aristocratic

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: aristocracy of labor (page history and authors); labour aristocracy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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