Short answers, pulled from the story.
The term aristokratia derives from Greek words meaning excellent power and originally described young citizens who led armies at the front line. These men were called the best born because martial bravery was a highly regarded virtue in Greek society.
Aristocratic status in ancient Greece, ancient Rome, or ancient and medieval India originated from belonging to a military class. In many states this included upper-class members with hereditary rank and titles below only the monarch of a country or nation.
The French Revolution abolished aristocracy within France through revolutionary leaders labeling even non-noble opponents as aristocrats in their push for a society without inherited privilege. Revolutionary leaders aimed to dismantle hierarchical structures creating new social orders that challenged centuries-old traditions of hereditary rule.
Tomás Fernández de Medrano described an aristocrat in his 1602 political treatise República Mista as someone distinguished by virtue morality and wisdom who governed solely for the benefit and welfare of the public.
In seventeenth-century Bohemia an even smaller noble class owned two-thirds of the land compared to England where about two hundred families controlled roughly a quarter of the kingdom's territory. Aristocratic status involved feudal or legal privileges that distinguished them from other classes in European societies.