Aristocrat (pronunciation)

The noun aristocrat, with the adjective aristocratic, is pronounced in traditional British RP academic circles with the stress on the first syllable: 'ARR-ist-e(r)-crat[-ik]', IPA: /'æ rɪ stə ,kræt (ɪk)/.

• In standard American pronunciation, which is increasingly to be heard in Britain, the stress is on the second syllable: 'er-IST-er-crat', /ə 'rɪ stə ,kræt (ɪk)/. (This reflects the original coinage of the word, in revolutionary France around 1789: the French, too, places the stress on the second syllable.)

The abstract and collective noun aristocracy is always pronounced with the stress on the third syllable: 'arr-ist-OCK-ress-y', /,æ rɪ 'stɒ krə sɪ/.